Following the Trump administration’s clampdown on Afghan immigrant visa processing, new developments may have left U.S. allies with no further hope of accessing the Special Immigrant Visa program.
Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, told me that as of the start of the year, he is aware of more than a dozen visa applicants who were denied from their programs following interviews. Applicants’ denials explain that based on “Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation ‘Restricting the Entry of foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.”
Unlike prior SIV denials, applicants’ letters now state that “today’s decision cannot be appealed.” VanDiver noted that it remains unclear whether the appeal refers to the Afghan’s visa application, or their entire SIV.
But if the latter is true, the situation is particularly concerning as the deadline for filing new SIV applications was Dec. 31, 2025. Out of fear that SIV access will be fully curtailed for those who are denied, many informed individuals are urging Afghans to postpone or not to appear for their interviews.
Andrew Sullivan, executive director of No One Left Behind, told me that “denials under 212(f), especially with the ambiguity on how it impacts the underlying Chief of Mission approval and SIV application, are incredibly concerning. Given that no new Afghan SIV applications are currently being accepted, we have a situation where Afghan SIVs could be permanently denied through no fault of their own.”
Another looming concern is the quiet announcement of an abrupt end date for the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts office. A source who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the CARE budget had allowed staff to continue operations until June 2025. The remaining employees were told they will be relieved of their roles by April 1, 2026.
In the interim, staff are being forced to return the passports of Afghans whose cases have been denied. The State Department did not respond to questions about the CARE end date or their recent spate of denials.
For Afghans awaiting processing for the suspended U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and SIV program, the future is bleak. The 800 Afghans that the U.S. government flew to Qatar are now being offered cash if they repatriate voluntarily to their homeland, VanDiver reports. But Afghans awaiting processing in Pakistan are particularly frightened. In 2025, 1 million Afghans were forcibly returned to their homeland, including increasing numbers of allies in the SIV and USRAP pipelines who hold expired letters of protection from the U.S. government.
A former judge in the USRAP said that a colleague who prosecuted terrorists through the Bagram Detention Center was arrested in late December and deported to Afghanistan. As arrests have spiked, the judge has not left his home in two months for fear of being returned to his homeland and being murdered by the Taliban. Over 50 prosecutors, judges, and legal personnel are known to have been killed in Taliban reprisals.
TRUMP SAYS VENEZUELA WILL BUY US PRODUCTS EXCLUSIVELY USING MONEY FROM OIL DEAL
The situation inside Afghanistan is particularly difficult for our allies. After news broke on Oct. 31 that there would be no Afghans included in the FY 2026 USRAP, a former Afghan female policewoman who had been waiting for assistance for 4.5 years attempted suicide, utterly hopeless and in fear of her ex-husband and the reprisal-happy Taliban. She died of complications. Her son has now been returned to the care of his father, and her two daughters, both under 16, are already promised to Taliban husbands.
Shifting U.S. policy toward Afghans is not only increasing the instability inside terrorist-ridden Afghanistan but harming the volunteer population that has steadfastly performed the work of U.S. government to preserve America’s promises to her allies.