Exclusive-Trump to Pull Nearly 1,660 Afghan Refugees From Flights, Say US Official, Advocate
Source: US News and World Report/Reuters
Jan. 20, 2025, at 5:02 p.m.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Nearly 1,660 Afghans cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the U.S., including family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel, are having their flights canceled under President Donald Trump's order suspending U.S. refugee programs, a U.S. official and a leading refugee resettlement advocate said on Monday.
The group includes unaccompanied minors awaiting reunification with their families in the U.S. as well as Afghans at risk of Taliban retribution because they fought for the former U.S.-backed Afghan government, said Shawn VanDiver, head of the #AfghanEvac coalition of U.S. veterans and advocacy groups and the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The U.S. decision also leaves in limbo thousands of other Afghans who have been approved for resettlement as refugees in the U.S. but have not yet been assigned flights from Afghanistan or from neighboring Pakistan, they said. Trump made an immigration crackdown a major promise of his victorious 2024 election campaign, leaving the fate of U.S. refugee programs up in the air.
The White House and the State Department, which oversees U.S. refugee programs, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "Afghans and advocates are panicking," said VanDiver. "I've had to recharge my phone four times already today because so many are calling me. "We warned them that this was going to happen, but they did it anyway. We hope they will reconsider," he said of contacts with Trump's transition team.
Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-01-20/exclusive-trump-administration-canceling-flights-for-nearly-1-660-afghan-refugees-say-u-s-official-advocate
All the wasted time on "show" hearings and hearings and hearings, trashing the State Department and DOD, and so now here we are - confirming the typical GOP projection of what their real intentions were going to be.
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So much for all that campaign BS about how badly he felt about Biden leaving these people behind with the abrupt pull-out. 
I suppose we can only be glad that he did not let them get in international airspace and then shoot them down (which I'd be surprised if Stephen Miller, Trump or someone did not even consider--even if momentarily).