The main coalition of advocacy groups that have helped resettle Afghans who aided American forces during the war is ramping up its pressure campaign on President Donald Trump to reverse course after he closed the door on an estimated 200,000 people.
The coalition of more than 250 groups, known as #AfghanEvac, is calling on veterans of the global war on terror to rally against the Trump administration for blocking the relocation of Afghans in danger of retaliation from the Taliban for working with the U.S. government.
“This is worse than the chaotic withdrawal in August 2021. Because now, we know better. Because this time, it is not an accident,” Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and founder of #AfghanEvac, wrote in an open letter to veterans Monday. “It is not an oversight. It is a choice. It is an intentional betrayal of those we swore to stand with and an insult to the veterans who led this fight.”
Within hours of taking office, Trump issued an executive action that indefinitely halted all refugee admissions and foreign aid, including cancelling flights for Afghans who were already vetted and who had booked flights to come to the U.S. Trump’s actions effectively denied nearly all pathways forward for Afghans who helped the U.S. military over the course of the 20-year war.
The letter, provided first to PBS News, calls on veterans to speak up and call their representatives in a push to convince the Trump administration to reverse course. VanDiver also placed blame on some of Trump’s top advisers.
“We believe this decision comes directly from the White House, specifically from Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. We don’t know if Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio, or even President Trump himself, are aware of the implications of this shut down,” VanDiver writes. “We are certain that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, does not support this action, because he has vocally and publicly worked for the last several years to ensure an immigration pathway is available for the Afghans he served alongside.”
Waltz, a green beret who served two combat tours in Afghanistan, has staunchly supported resettling Afghans to the U.S., warning often that the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan after the withdrawal put the lives of Afghan allies at risk. Miller, one of Trump’s longtime advisers, fervently supported dismantling the country’s refugee system during the campaign — one of the legal pathways available to immigrants — even as Trump attacked President Joe Biden over the Afghanistan pullout.
The White House and the National Security Council did not respond to requests for comment.
An Afghan translator’s identity is hidden while undergoing training with Marines in 2010. Photo by Christophe Simon/Getty Images.
Included in the 200,000 Afghans estimated eligible for resettlement as refugees or through a special immigration visa are 3,000 family members of active-duty U.S. military. And tens of thousands of Afghans who were ready to travel to the U.S. have been stranded in Kabul and Pakistan.
Pressed on why he thinks Trump himself is unaware of the actions of his own administration officials, VanDiver said, “Because it’s hard for my brain, or our brains, to understand that he would be such a hypocrite.”
“It’s too hard for my brain to comprehend that he would know that this was happening and just leave these people behind,” VanDiver added in a phone call with PBS News.
The pressure campaign comes as Trump’s administration is now drafting plans to completely shut down the State Department office that oversees the resettlement of Afghans to the U.S., known as the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, or CARE. The move would mean a complete end to official efforts to protect and relocate Afghans who aided or worked directly for the U.S. government and their relatives.
The relocation office, created in the aftermath of the chaotic 2021 pullout under the Biden administration, was recently funded for another three years by Congress. Then-Rep. Waltz, now Trump’s national security adviser, and then-Sen. Rubio, now Trump’s Secretary of State, voted for that funding in December.
“You may hear, ‘We don’t know who these people are.’ That is a lie,” the letter states. “You may hear, “This is just a temporary pause.” That is a lie. Trump’s State Department is making permanent plans to dismantle the relocation infrastructure that we built, brick-by-brick, through sheer grit and unwavering force of will.”
A State Department spokesperson acknowledged the administration is considering the future of the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, but said no decisions have been made at this time. They added that the program continues to provide support to Afghan allies currently at overseas processing locations.
The State Department spokesperson did not respond to questions about AfghanEvac’s push for the administration to reverse its decision.
Processing of special immigrant visas for the thousands of Afghans stuck in Qatar or Albania means nothing, VanDiver said, if all funding and flights are cancelled. To date, some 200,000 Afghans have resettled in America since 2021.
The State Department is expected to review a plan this week that would shutter the program entirely by April — potentially leaving 200,000 Afghans stranded and some separated from their loved ones.