President Donald Trump’s travel ban on a dozen foreign nations poses a serious threat to the prospects of hundreds of Afghans who have resettled in Vermont, as well as their family members and other refugees fleeing the Taliban who remain overseas, a local social services organization is warning.
The order, expected to go into effect on Monday morning, “is blatantly racist, and rooted in unfounded fear and political posturing,” the Vermont Afghan Alliance said in a statement. “Afghan allies trying to come to the United States are highly vetted, in fear for their lives, and are willing to leave behind all they have ever known on the promise of a new life – a promise the United States made to them.”
August will mark four years since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021. Tens of thousands of refugees, many of whom helped the U.S. during its decades-long war there, fled and settled in the U.S., including about 600 in Vermont. Most are men; the U.S. told them they would be reunited with their families after leaving them behind, but that has yet to happen in many cases. Many others who helped the war effort are still in Afghanistan or refugee camps in neighboring Pakistan.
The travel ban could prevent Afghans who don’t hold special immigrant visas from joining their families in Vermont. While some who worked with the U.S. military have such visas, not all do. Many are asylum seekers still waiting on their green cards, with families still in Afghanistan, according to Molly Gray, executive director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance. The alliance works to support Afghans in Vermont by providing services such as driving or English lessons and helps them adapt to life in the U.S.
The order implies that existing special immigrant visas will continue to be processed but doesn’t confirm it. Some Afghans are already expected to arrive in Vermont under special immigrant visas that are currently being processed, according to Gray, but it’s unclear what the situation will look like going forward.
“It is hard to quantify the depravity, bigotry and short-sightedness of such a brazen abandonment of those individuals who risked their lives, over a 21 year period, for the United States in Afghanistan,” Gray said in the statement.
The news comes weeks after the Trump administration announced it would eliminate “temporary protected status” for refugees from Afghanistan. The status allows people fleeing conflict to live and work in the U.S. for a limited time. But, Gray noted, the Taliban still rules in Afghanistan, where they continue to crack down on civil rights, especially for women. And those who helped the Americans during the war are in fear for their lives.
“The ending of TPS is an indication in a series of steps that [the government is] willing to abandon our Afghan allies,” she said in an interview with Seven Days.
U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) was among the lawmakers who penned a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding the status removal.
“Forcing Afghan nationals in the U.S. to return to Afghanistan would be reckless and inhumane, and would threaten the safety and well-being of thousands of individuals and families,” the coalition wrote. “Afghan civilians still face devastating humanitarian and economic conditions.”
Trump’s travel ban affects 12 countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia, both of which have sizable refugee communities in Vermont.
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