5 years after withdrawal, a grave picture for Afghans inside and outside the US

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The Hill's Headlines — August 29, 2026

The Hill's Headlines — August 29, 2026

The fifth anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan falls as the nation’s citizens face a starkly different picture than when they first arrived in America, with the Trump administration employing numerous tactics to deport Afghans and halt the arrival of new refugees.

Since President Trump returned to office, he has drastically curtailed the pathways for Afghans to arrive in the U.S., even curbing immigration processing for several countries following a fatal attack on National Guardsmen carried out by an Afghan national.

Under the second Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has moved to strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghans, ending protections that kept more than 8,000 people from being deported. The administration has also begun the process of reviewing and revoking some Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) given to Afghans who worked alongside the U.S. in military and government efforts as interpreters, special operations partners and local embassy staff.

And the White House as one of its earliest moves also suspended refugee processing except for white South Africans, cutting off hopes of many Afghans of reaching the U.S.

“As we take stock of whether the U.S. has lived up to its obligations and promises to the Afghans who worked and served alongside American military personnel and partners, often at great personal risk, the answer is a resounding no,” Sharif Aly, president of the International Refugee Assistance Project said on a recent call with reporters.

“The Trump administration has closed virtually all pathways for Afghans to receive visas or enter the U.S., even as there are over 5 million Afghans currently displaced all over the world.”

For Afghans and their advocates — a group that includes many veterans who served in the country — things have gone from bad to worse.

Twenty years of U.S. involvement in the county came to an end over two weeks of chaos at Hamid Kharzai International Airport, with throngs of people crowded outside in the hopes of being boarded onto a limited number of flights slated to take allies to safety. More than 80,000 were evacuated through Operation Allies Welcome.

Despite the two decades of nation-building, the Taliban now control the country, and women, who had been free to attend school and pursue careers, are now shut off from most aspects of public life.

And Afghans who did make it to the U.S. live in a precarious state. Even those who gained an SIV or who have a green card have received letters warning them the basis for that status had been........

© The Hill