Afghan allies face uncertainty as U.S. suspends visas for 19 countries

Thousands of Afghan allies who helped American troops during the nation’s longest war are still waiting to enter the United States, now facing new uncertainty after the Trump administration halted visas for 19 countries, including Afghanistan.

The U.S. Department of State announced earlier this week that it is suspending visas for those countries. “There are thousands of people who are waiting for their shot, waiting for their shot at the American dream that they were promised,” said Shawn VanDiver.

VanDiver is a 12-year Navy veteran and the founder and president of #AfghanEvac, a San Diego-based nonprofit that has worked with the U.S. government and other organizations to help relocate Afghan allies and their families.

“These are folks who are translators,” VanDiver added. “These are people that fought for our mission. These are people that fought out war for us. In some cases, we handed them guns and said, ‘go kill people for us,’ and they did that, and now we’ve left them behind.”

VanDiver said many of those waiting, who he is aware of, have already been vetted and were confirmed to have helped further the military’s mission leading up to forces leaving Afghanistan in 2021. 

“It’s 178,000 that have Chief of Mission approval already, that’s 35,000 principal applicants and then the rest is their family,” he said.

#AfghanEvac has worked with elected leaders, including the Biden administration, to create pathways for Afghan allies to reach American soil. Those efforts slowed dramatically after a shooting involving two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., one of whom was killed. The suspect was an Afghan national who had served alongside U.S. troops and worked with a CIA-backed unit.

Following that incident, President Donald Trump halted visas for the country. More recently, a spending bill passed by Congress authorized no new visas, further stalling the process. VanDiver said 5,000 visas for principal applicants remain unfilled.

“But now this 5,000 could last forever, right? Because they’re not allowing anyone to come here,” VanDiver said.

Despite the setbacks, VanDiver said he will continue advocating for Afghan allies and pressing lawmakers to revisit the issue, even if it takes a future administration.

“They believed in the idea of America, they stood up for our values, they believed in us when we told them we would stand by them and one they’re being wholesale betrayed,” he said.

Vandiver also noted San Diego’s significant role in supporting Afghan allies, pointing to the region’s large military and veteran community. He said local veterans were instrumental in pushing the Biden administration to establish a relocation pathway for Afghan allies, a process he says is now at risk.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.