RASC News Agency: Thousands of Afghanistani citizens who served alongside U.S. forces during America’s longest war now face an uncertain future, after former President Donald Trump’s administration suspended visa issuance for 19 countries, including Afghanistan. This decision has once again left local U.S. allies stranded in a nation governed by an ideological, unaccountable, and repressive system.
According to NBC reporter Dana Williams, the U.S. State Department confirmed that visa processing for these countries has been put on hold. Thousands of Afghanistani citizens, previously approved for relocation to the U.S., remain under direct threat from the Taliban, a group that systematically suppresses rights, dismantles civil structures, and has turned Afghanistan into an unsafe environment for former Western collaborators.
Sean Van Duyver, a U.S. Navy veteran and founder of the nonprofit Afghanistan Evacuation Organization (AEO) in San Diego, stated:
“Thousands are waiting for opportunities they were promised. Now, they are trapped in a country controlled by the Taliban, with no guarantee of safety or human dignity.”
Many of these individuals served as translators, operational staff, and direct collaborators with the U.S. military, risking their lives against the Taliban. Van Duyver notes that at least 178,000 people hold official Chief of Mission approvals, including 35,000 principal applicants and their family members. The visa suspension leaves them effectively stranded in Taliban-controlled territory, where any prior cooperation with the West is treated as a criminal act.
NBC7 reports that multi-year efforts to establish safe evacuation routes were severely delayed after a security incident in Washington, and the Trump administration’s full visa suspension effectively blocked all progress. Congress has further compounded the crisis by approving budgets that allocate no funding for new visas.
Van Duyver warns:
“These individuals believed in American values, stood against the Taliban, and trusted us. Yet they have now been systematically abandoned in a country dominated by an extremist, repressive regime, with no room for security, justice, or a future.”
The report stresses that the continuation of this situation not only places thousands of Afghanistani lives at direct risk, but also undermines the moral and political credibility of the United States globally.
