After Trump halted funding for Afghans who helped the US, this group stepped in to help

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Andrew Sullivan thinks of the people his organization has helped resettle in America, one particular story comes to mind: an Afghan man in a wheelchair who was shot through the neck by a member of the Taliban for helping the U.S. during its war in Afghanistan.

“I just think ... Could I live with myself if we send that guy back to Afghanistan?” said Sullivan, executive director of No One Left Behind. “And I thankfully don’t have to because he made it to northern Virginia.”

The charitable organization of U.S. military veterans, Afghans who once fled their country and volunteers in the U.S. is stepping in to help Afghans like that man in the wheelchair who are at risk of being stranded overseas. Their efforts come after the Trump administration took steps to hinder Afghans who helped America’s war effort in trying to resettle in the U.S.

No One Left Behind helps Afghans and Iraqis who qualify for the special immigrant visa program, which was set up by Congress in 2009 to help people who are in danger because of their efforts to aid the U.S. during the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.

President Donald Trump in January suspended programs that buy flights for those refugees and cut off aid to the groups that help them resettle in the U.S. Hundreds who were approved for travel to the U.S. had visas but few ways to get here. If they managed to buy a flight, they had little help when they arrived.

The White House and State Department did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, the situation for Afghans has become more tenuous in some of the places where many have temporarily settled. Pakistan, having hosted millions of refugees, has in recent years removed Afghans from its country. increased deportations. An agreement that made Albania a waystation for Afghans expires in March, Sullivan said.

Hovering over all of this is the fear that the Trump administration may announce a travel ban that could cut off all access from Afghanistan. In an executive order signed on Inauguration Day, Trump told key Cabinet members to submit a report within 60 days that identifies countries with vetting so poor that it would “warrant a partial or full suspension” of travelers from those countries to the U.S.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Monday that the review was ongoing and no list had been finalized.

But groups that work with Afghans are worried.

When funding was suspended, No One Left Behind stepped in. Their goal is to make sure Afghans with State Department visas don't get stuck overseas. Other organizations — many who got their start helping Afghans during the U.S. military's chaotic withdrawal from Kabul in 2021 — are doing the same.

To qualify for this visa, Afghans must prove they worked for the U.S. for at least one year. That means tracking down documentation from former supervisors, who were often affiliated with companies no longer in business. They also undergo extensive vetting and medical checks.

“Our view was, OK, we’ve got to act immediately to try and help these people,” said Sullivan. “We’ve been in kind of an all-out sprint.”

The organization has raised money to buy flights and help Afghans when they land. Between February 1 and March 17, the group said it successfully booked flights for 659 Afghans.

It also launched a website where visa holders can share information, giving Sullivan's group a starting point to figure out where they might live in the U.S.

Sullivan and the organization’s “ambassadors” — Afghans and Iraqis who already have emigrated to the U.S., many through the special immigrant visa program — have gone to Albania and Qatar to help stranded Afghans.

Aqila is one of those ambassadors who went to Albania. The Associated Press is identifying Aqila by her first name because her family in Afghanistan is still at risk.

Aqila said many of the families didn’t know what would happen when they arrived in America. Would they be homeless? Abandoned? One man feared he’d end up alone in the airport parking lot because his contact in America — a long-haul trucker — couldn’t come pick him up. She assured him that someone would be there.

They gave them cards with contact information for attorneys. They printed papers with information about their rights in English, Dari, and Pashto.

No One Left Behind reached out to family members and friends in the U.S. to help with the transition when they landed in America.

Mohammad Saboor, a father of seven children, worked as an electrician and A/C technician with international and U.S. forces for 17 years. Two months ago, he and his family boarded a plane to Albania in anticipation of soon being able to go to America. They landed in California on March 12, exhausted but safe

The next day he and his family explored their new apartment in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova.

Saboor said he hasn’t felt safe in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over the country in August 2021. He worried that he’d be killed as retribution for the nearly two decades he’d worked with the U.S. and its allies. He wondered what kind of future his children would have in a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

The family picked the suburb in the hope that the large Afghan population in the Sacramento area would help them get settled and find work. He envisions a bright future in America, where his kids can go to school and eventually give back to the country that took his family in. Arriving in the U.S., he said, gave them a “great feeling.”

“I believe that now we can live in a 100% peaceful environment,” he said.

Sullivan said he hopes there will be exceptions for Afghans in the special immigrant visa program if a travel ban is imposed. They've been thoroughly vetted, he said, and earned the right to be here.

“These are folks that actually served shoulder-to-shoulder with American troops and diplomats for 20 years,” he said.

Aqila, the Afghan ambassador, said it's stressful to hear stories of what people went through in Afghanistan. But the reward comes when she sees photos of those who have arrived in America.

“You can see the hope in their eyes,” she said. “It’s nice to be human. It’s nice be kind to each other.”

Nargis Osmani rides a scooter near the new home provided to the Afghan family by the No One Left Behind Organization, in Rancho Cordova, Calif., Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Noria Sdeqi, center and her two daughters, Mursal Omani, left and Sadaf Osmani, right, sit in a van that will take them from the Sacramento International Airport to their new California home, provided by the No One Left Behind Organization, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Pawlasha Rahimi, left, and Noria Sdeqi, who met weeks ago in a resettlement camp in Albania after leaving Afghanistan, hug after reuniting in Rancho Cordova, Calif., Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Afghan sisters Nilaap Osmani, left, and Mursal Omani, wait to the leave the Sacramento International Airport for their new home in Northern California Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Afghans Nilaap Osmani, left, Mohammad Shabir Osmani, center and Nargis Osmani, right, spend some quiet time in their new home in Rancho Cordova, Calif., Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Mohammad Samir Osmani, looks out a window of his families new home provided by the No One Left Behind Organization, in Rancho Cordova, Calif., Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Horia Obaidy, of the No One Left Behind Organization, left, that helps Afghans resettle in the United States, meets with Mohammad Sabor Osmani, in blue, and his family in Rancho Cordova, Calif., Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

After arriving to the United States from Albania, hours earlier, Noria Sdeqi comforts her tired daughter Sadaf Osmani, 13 months, in their new home in Rancho Cordova, Calif., Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Noria Sdeqi prepares lunch for her family in their new home provided by the No One Left Behind Organization, in Rancho Cordova, Calif., Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

After leaving Afghanistan two-months earlier, Mohammad Saboor Osmani, third from left, and his family are greeted by a representative of No One left Behind Organization after their arrival at the Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).

After leaving Afghanistan two-months earlier, Noria Sdeqi, center, and her daughter, Sadaf, 13 months, are welcomed by a representative of No One left Behind Organization after their arrival at the Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Mohammad Saboor Osmani, center, and his son's Mohammad Shabir Osmani, left, Mohammad Samir Osmani, second from left and Mohammad Seyar Osmanni, right, load their luggage on a cart after their arrival at the Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli).

After leaving Afghanistan two-months earlier, Mohammed Saboor Osmani, center, followed by his family, takes the escalator down to the baggage area of the Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Mohammad Shabir Osmani, pushes one of his families suitcases out of the Sacramento International Airport, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, Germany & BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 18, 2025--

LUMENION has successfully completed the test operation of a plant for the supply of "green steam" in combination with a large-scale thermal storage solution. The completion of this LUMENION solution marks an important milestone on the way to a decarbonized industry. The TÜV-certified system is available for applications in all industrial sectors.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250318462006/en/

LUMENION's thermal energy storage system uses a few hours of electricity supply to charge and to store energy in the form of heat of up to 600° Celsius. The energy can be charged flexibly at intervals throughout the day and is made available to customers in the form of steam or process heat over longer periods of time. Ideally, cheap electricity is obtained from the client's own renewable energy sources or during attractive time slots in the electricity market, which reduces the need for fossil fuels and allows production processes to be electrified cost-effectively. Due to the high charging flexibility of the storage system, energy demand can also be controlled in a smart and optimized way.

Measured by the storage volume of 20 MWh and the maturity of the technology, the plant in Schleswig-Holstein is unique, pioneering worldwide and highly scalable thanks to its modular design. The construction, from the foundations to test operation, was completed in just one year. The technology is ready for use also on a larger scale in all industrial sectors that rely on process heat or steam.

"The successful practical application of producing CO2-free steam for a major food producer with the help of our thermal storage system is an important milestone for LUMENION and the entire industry," says Peter Kordt, CEO of LUMENION: "The flawless implementation is impressive proof of the potential of this technology."

Jobst Hoyningen-Huene, CEO and co-founder of econnext AG, explains: "This solution for CO2-free process steam offers a practicable and immediately available way to advance the decarbonization of industry on a large scale and at high speed. The solution is highly attractive economically at many locations. It also offers clients the possibility of decoupling from strongly fluctuating costs for fossil fuels and rising CO2 pricing, especially when using their own renewable energy sources due to the large storage facility and thus securing the costs of steam production at an attractive level in the long term. With this application, LUMENION can therefore offer industrial customers a genuine 'green discount solution'.”

Significant parts of industry that rely on temperature requirements of up to 450° Celsius or process steam can reduce their fossil energy consumption and electrify their production processes cost-effectively by using this solution. LUMENION is systematically driving the development of these pioneering decarbonization solutions to support the energy transition - including "Heat-as-a-Service" contracts - and sees enormous market potential for their broad industrial application.

About LUMENION:

LUMENION is a leading company in the field of sustainable energy solutions and specializes in the development and implementation of thermal energy storage systems (TES) that store wind and solar energy as high-temperature heat and thus supply customers around the clock with green process heat/steam and optionally with electricity (combined heat and power, "CHP" concept).

While the system discharges and provides heat evenly around the clock, it can be charged simultaneously and quickly (typically in 4-6 hours). All core materials are fully recyclable, available worldwide and have a decades-long economic life. LUMENION has been part of the econnext Group since 2018.

https://lumenion.com

About econnext AG:

Founded in 2016, econnext AG is the parent company of a diversified group of ClimateTech companies with a focus on decarbonization and the circular economy. econnext holds majority stakes in Autarq (solar roof tiles), Circular Carbon (CDR technology for renewable heat and biochar from waste materials), ESG Screen17 (sustainability screening for investment portfolios), FLAXTEC (solar module recycling, among other circular economy technologies), GRIPS Energy (renewable energy supply worldwide) and LUMENION (renewable process heating and cooling with energy storage) as well as a minority stake in Ambibox (e-mobility and decentralized energy systems).

https://econnext.eu

LUMENION TES