US Immigration Policies Target Afghan Evacuees Following 2025 Washington Incident
After a shooting incident involving an Afghan evacuee in Washington, DC on 26 November 2025, the Trump administration imposed sweeping immigration measures affecting Afghan nationals. These measures include pausing most asylum cases, halting Afghan visa issuances, reviewing green card applications, and re-examining immigration approvals granted during the Biden administration.
Green-card processing for Afghans has been frozen, and reports indicate that Afghans are being detained during routine immigration appointments. Additionally, there are increasing signs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence in everyday locations frequented by Afghan communities. These changes are framed by officials as efforts to narrow who is considered to belong in the United States, continuing a broader history of travel bans and selective refugee policies disproportionately affecting non-white immigrants.
The new policies have created widespread fear among Afghan evacuees resettled in the US under programs like Operation Allies Welcome, which evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans. A coalition of more than 130 organizations led by Refugee Council USA urged the reversal of these policies on 9 December 2025, arguing that the US is breaking promises to wartime allies who risked their lives.
One Afghan affected by these changes is Ali, a 25-year-old former air force pilot featured during the Kabul evacuation, who now lives in Boise, Idaho. After being granted asylum on 3 January 2025, Ali drives for Uber while training to become a pilot and hopes to obtain a green card in 2026. He has expressed that the recent immigration actions undermine his service for the US and threaten the safety guarantees given to him when he was evacuated.
The policies and rhetoric highlight how Afghan evacuees have become political targets amid heightened anti-immigrant sentiment, with the DC shooting suspect's involvement linked to the broader Operation Allies Welcome program.
