Hundreds of thousands of Afghans could be eligible to resettle in the United States were it not for President Donald Trump’s travel and visa bans, according to a new report.The report was published by San Diego-based nonprofit #AfghanEvac Wednesday.It cites government data from multiple sources to track the history of Afghan resettlement in the U.S. back to the George W. Bush administration.Afghans were recruited to work with the U.S. and its allies during the occupation of Afghanistan from 2001-21.In exchange, they were told the United States would not forget or abandon them. The report closely tracks the Special Immigrant Visa program.It’s not the only pathway Afghans used to resettle in the United States but the report says it’s the oldest and most well-documented.Shawn VanDiver is the president and cofounder of #AfghanEvac.”We don’t pull punches — we’re very critical of Republicans and Democrats talking about where people are succeeding and where people are failing,” VanDiver said.The most drastic changes came with the second Trump administration, the report says.On his first day back in office Trump froze all refugee resettlement. Later in 2025, Trump enacted a travel ban on anyone with an Afghan passport.According to the report more than 175,000 Afghans have “chief of mission” approval for Special Immigrant Visas, or SIVs. That means background checks and paperwork clearances are done — all that should be left is an interview before being issued a visa, VanDiver said.He says the State Department has been encouraging Afghans with chief of mission approval to do their interviews, but has turned that process on its head.”Every single person that gets interviewed is being denied because of the travel ban,” VanDiver said.Advocacy organizations are encouraging Afghans to delay the interviews until that changes, according to VanDiver.The report says almost 6,000 SIVs authorized by Congress are frozen. No SIVs have been issued to Afghan passport holders since Jan. 1, 2026.”Zero — not a few — zero,” VanDiver said. “President Trump has completely shut down arrivals for Afghans in the United States of America.”At least 132,000 additional Afghans have SIV applications pending chief of mission approval, the report says.Beyond SIV-elligible Afghans, the report says an estimated 59,000 refugee applicants remain in Afghanistan, as do more than 9,000 family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.The report includes 10 policy recommendations such as issuing the nearly 6,000 SIVs already approved by Congress and reopening refugee admissions.It also recommends restoring Temporary Protected Status for almost 12,000 Afghans already in the United States.A bipartisan bill to restore TPS for Afghans was introduced in the House last month. The Senate version was introduced Thursday.
