Samar and his family were among tens of thousands of at-risk Afghans who were flown out of Kabul aboard US-organized flights to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates after the hardline Taliban returned to Kabul in 2021.
Samar, whose name has been changed for security reasons, has been waiting to be resettled to the United States through refugee programs for Afghans who have worked for US-affiliated organizations.
Four years on, however, the US resettlement remains a distant dream and Samar now fears that it might never happen after the US President Donald Trump on June 4 announced a new travel ban for 12 countries, including Afghanistan, citing national security threats.
"I live at a [temporary refugee center] in Abu Dhabi, while my wife and our four children have been housed at a refugee facility in Qatar," Samar, 34, told RFE/RL on June 5.
"We are still hopeful that we will be given permission to move to the United States, but this uncertainty over the past four years has drained us mentally and physically," he added.
The list of banned countries in Trump's newly announced travel ban also includes Iran, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Citizens of these countries will not be allowed to enter the United States unless they qualify for an exemption, according to the proclamation announced by Trump.
The document also imposes partial restrictions on visitors from seven additional countries that include Turkmenistan, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Venezuela. The policy takes effect on June 9.
For Afghan nationals, an exemption has been envisaged in the new policy for those who qualify for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV). Created in 2001, the SIV program offers a pathway to Afghan nationals who were directly employed by the US military and diplomatic missions in Afghanistan.
Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration attorney and professor at Cornell Law School, said the travel ban will likely be challenged but courts may uphold it.
"In 2018, the Supreme Court narrowly upheld President Trump's prior travel ban, holding that presidents have wide discretion on immigration and national security issues," he said in an e-mail.
For that and other reasons, "courts are likely to uphold this travel ban," Yale-Loehr said.
'No One Cares'
In January, the United States suspended the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for at least three months, dealing a blow to tens of thousands of Afghans waiting for resettlement.
Among them were about 15,000 Afghans living with temporary visas in Pakistan, according to figures provided by Pakistani authorities.
"We were shocked by that announcement, but didn’t lose hope because it said ‘suspended,’ not ended, so it was like it will resume again," said Muska, a former Afghan media worker, who had been waiting for permission to move to the United States.
"But this time, it sounds so final, it is a ban," Muska, 25, told RFE/RL speaking via WhatsApp from Pakistan on June 5. "We Afghans are just stranded here, and it seems no one cares about what will happen to us."
Muska said she can’t return to Afghanistan, where the hardline Taliban-led government has severely restricted women’s lives, banning them from work or getting education beyond primary school.
Staying on in Pakistan is not also an option for Muska, who like many Afghans depend on a temporary visa that must be renewed every month.
They face increasing pressure by Pakistan, which has forcibly deported more than 800,000 undocumented Afghan refugees since it launched a major crackdown in 2023, according to the United Nations.
Another 1.4 million Afghans who are formally registered with the Pakistani government have until June 30 to return to their homeland.
"I have been anxious since I heard about the travel ban last night," said Wali, a 30-year-old Afghan who lives in Islamabad with his wife and their 3-year-old daughter.
Wali, who gave only his first name, had been cleared for US resettlement, but his visa process was halted since January. Wali, who worked for a US-affiliated NGO in Kabul, believes he will face persecution if returned to Afghanistan.
"The proclamation exempts only SIV-holders from the ban. We call on the US government to extend this exemption to all Afghans whose immigration visas were being processed," Wali said. "We all have worked together to support the US government efforts [in Afghanistan]."
