ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghans who fled after the Taliban seized power appealed Wednesday to U.S. President Donald Trump to exempt them from an order suspending the relocation of refugees to the United States, some saying they risked their lives to support U.S. troops.
An estimated 15,000 Afghans are waiting in Pakistan to be approved for resettlement in the U.S. via an American government program. It was set up to help Afghans at risk under the Taliban because of their work with the U.S. government, media, aid agencies and rights groups, after U.S. troops pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, when the Taliban took power.
But in his first days in office, Trump's administration announced the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program would be suspended from Jan. 27 for at least three months. During that period, the White House said the secretary of homeland security in consultation with the secretary of state will submit a report to the president on whether the resumption of the program is in the U.S. interest.
Refugees who had been approved to travel to the United States before Jan. 27 have had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration. Among those affected are the more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to resettle in the U.S. That number includes those who worked alongside American soldiers during the war as well as family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, where authorities have urged the international community to decide the fate of 1.45 million Afghan refugees, saying they cannot stay indefinitely.
“Many of us risked our lives to support the U.S. mission as interpreters, contractors, human rights defenders, and allies,” an advocacy group called Afghan USRAP Refugees — named after the U.S. refugee program — said in an open letter to Trump, members of Congress and human rights defenders.
“The Taliban regard us as traitors, and returning to Afghanistan would expose us to arrest, torture, or death,” the group said. “In Pakistan, the situation is increasingly untenable. Arbitrary arrests, deportations, and insecurity compound our distress.”
Hadisa Bibi, a former student in Kabul who fled to neighboring Pakistan last month, said she read in newspapers that Trump suspended the refugee program.
“Prior to restrictions on women’s education in Afghanistan, I was a university student,” she said. “Given the risks I face as a women’s rights advocate, I was hoping for a swift resettlement to the United States. This would not only allow me to continue my higher education but also offer a safer and brighter future.”
She said she witnessed several Afghans arrested by Pakistani police, which left her in fear, "confined to my room like a prisoner.”
Mahnoosh Monir said she was a medical student in Afghanistan when her education was “cruelly suspended by the Taliban." Before fleeing to Pakistan, she worked as a teacher at a language center but it also was shut by the Taliban.
“Afghanistan is no longer a place for any girl or woman to survive," she said, adding she was disappointed by Trump's move.
“I didn’t expect this suspension to happen. A long span of waiting makes us think of very disappointing probabilities like being sent back to Afghanistan or waiting for a long time in Pakistan as a refugee at risk, which are like nightmares to all case holders," she said.
The Taliban have deprived 1.4 million Afghan girls of schooling through bans, according to the United Nations. Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education.
Both Bibi and Monir applied for relocation and are still waiting. Over time, the visa process for Afghans who demonstrate they are at risk of persecution has become protracted.
Another Afghan woman, Farzana Umeed, and a man, Sarfraz Ahmed, said in an interview on the outskirts of Islamabad they were traumatized by the suspension of the program.
“I virtually wept last night when we heard this news,” Umeed said. She said it was difficult for her to live in Pakistan, and she could not travel to America either. “Returning to my home country also means taking a huge risk. What should I do? she asked, and urged Trump to reverse his decision.
Those in exile in Pakistan include Afghan journalists who were forced to escape Taliban rule to save their lives, and now face “extreme anxiety under the recurring threat of arbitrary arrest, police harassment and deportation to Afghanistan,” Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday.
The media watchdog urged Pakistan to ensure the protection of these journalists, who say their visa is extended only for a month for a $100 fee.
According to the Afghan USRAP Refugees group, flights to the U.S. for many Afghans had been scheduled for January, February and March after they were interviewed by the International Organization for Migration and U.S. Embassy officials.
“We seek the reversal of the ban on the refugee program on humanitarian grounds,” said Ahmad Shah, a member of the group, who was hoping to leave Pakistan for the United States in March after undergoing all interviews and medical tests.
In addition to Pakistan, more than 3,200 Afghans are staying in Albania. A NATO member, Albania first agreed to house Afghans for one year before they moved for final settlement in the United States, then pledged to keep them longer if their visas were delayed.
An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
An Afghan refugee woman, who asked not to use her name and not to show her face fearing her identity could lead to her capture, poses for photographer following her interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
NEW YORK (AP) — Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who helped lead protests against Israel at Columbia University.
The demonstrators from Jewish Voice for Peace wore red shirts reading “Jews say stop arming Israel” and held up banners as they chanted “Bring Mahmoud home now!" on the lower level of the Fifth Avenue building's public atrium.
After warning the protesters to leave, police said they arrested 98 people who stayed on various charges, including trespassing, obstruction and resisting arrest.
Khalil, a 30-year-old permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen and who has not been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside his New York City apartment Saturday and faces deportation. He is being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana.
President Donald Trump has said Khalil’s arrest was the first “of many to come” and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.” The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the Trump Tower demonstration.
Among those who took part in Thursday's protest was actor Debra Winger, who was not arrested. She accused the Trump administration of having “no interest in Jewish safety” and “co-opting antisemitism.”
“I’m just standing up for my rights, and I’m standing up for Mahmoud Khalil, who has been abducted illegally and taken to an undisclosed location," Winger told The Associated Press, referring to how Khalil's attorney didn't know his whereabouts immediately following his arrest. "Does that sound like America to you?”
Founded in 1996, Jewish Voice for Peace describes itself as a grassroots movement of American Jews seeking to “end U.S. support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.” It is one of a number of Jewish groups around the world advocating for the rights of Palestinians.
Protester Sophie Edelhart, a Barnard graduate who studies Yiddish as part of a PhD program in Canada, said the building — with its golden escalator that Trump rode before announcing his 2016 presidential run — was a symbolic target.
Trump Tower serves as headquarters for the Trump Organization and is where the president stays when he is in New York. The skyscraper often attracts demonstrations, both against and in support of its namesake, though protests inside are less common. The multi-story atrium is accessible to the public and connects visitors to eateries including the Trump Grill.
Khalil’s supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have staged protests elsewhere in the city and around the country, including outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case Wednesday.
Columbia University was a focal point of the pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across U.S. college campuses last year and led to more than 2,000 arrests.
On Thursday the school announced that it expelled or suspended some students who took over a campus building during pro-Palestinian protests last spring. The Trump administration has said it is revoking at least $400 million in funding from programs affiliated with Columbia, including medical research grants, as punishment for not doing enough to curtail protest activity that the president considers antisemitic.
Also Thursday, lawyers for Khalil and other students identified by pseudonyms filed a lawsuit seeking to block a congressional committee from obtaining the disciplinary records of students at Columbia and Barnard College, a women's institution affiliated with Columbia.
Khalil, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, finished his requirements for a Columbia master’s degree in December.
Associated Press reporters Michael Hill in Albany and Michelle L. Price, Michael R. Sisak and Joseph B. Frederick contributed.
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who were arrested while protesting inside Trump Tower, wait to board a bus escorted by New York Police officers, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police officers gather to arrest demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, are escorted out after they were arrested while protesting inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who were arrested while protesting inside Trump Tower, wait to board a bus escorted by New York Police officers, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil is escorted out by New York Police officers after being arrested, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Security personnel with Trump Tower confront a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, as they protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police officers arrest a demonstrator from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators with the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
