MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The fallout from another order by President Trump to suspend the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, it has halted in effort with bipartisan support; the resettlement of Afghans who helped the U.S. military over 20 years of war there. It means tens of thousands of Afghans who were promised visas are now in limbo, some of them in danger. As NPR's Quil Lawrence reports, it has also put many Americans who fought in Afghanistan into a painful limbo as well.
QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: The U.S. offered Special Immigrant Visas, or SIVs, to Afghans who worked and fought alongside American troops.
JAY: Yes, my name is Jay. I worked for U.S. military almost 10 years.
LAWRENCE: We're only using first names for the Afghans interviewed because they all have family at risk in Afghanistan. Jay and his two brothers worked combined for almost 30 years for the U.S. military. They're getting legal help from the Charlottesville Bar Association in Virginia. Jay is now a U.S. citizen. His brother Himmat has a green card, but his wife and daughters are left behind. Another brother, Atiqullah, is still waiting for status for himself, and he's certain he'll be killed if he returns to Kabul.
ATIQULLAH: All my three brothers, we stayed with all Americans. We work shoulder-by-shoulder with all those different units. Every day our life was danger. Every day our whole family life was danger.
LAWRENCE: All three brothers keep using the phrase shoulder-to-shoulder - in Afghan Dari, shohna-ba-shohna. It was a U.S. military motto in Afghanistan, and the Americans who said it meant it.
TIM KENNEDY: The men that we were fighting alongside in Afghanistan, they would take extraordinary and exceptional risks and demonstrate countless acts of valor in the protection of us.
LAWRENCE: Tim Kennedy is a Green Beret who served in Afghanistan. A key mission for Green Berets is to work with local militaries worldwide, and Kennedy says that takes trust and credibility.
KENNEDY: For us to not follow through on a promise made to a promise kept where that then projects to the rest of our allies, would be like, why are we fighting with you guys if you're not going to fight for us when the time comes.
LAWRENCE: But that's where it stands at the moment. President Trump's order not only froze the visas for Afghan allies, it stopped funding Afghans midway through the process, including thousands that the U.S. evacuated to third countries. Even U.S. troops can't get their own family members out of Afghanistan says Catalina Gasper, a former Navy intelligence officer wounded in Afghanistan. She says it's another wound for veterans when their word of honor is violated.
CATALINA GASPER: And so if the U.S. says we won't leave you in danger and then we leave you behind and then we leave you to die, I can't live with that. I can't live with that, and there are so many veterans that can't either.
LAWRENCE: Gasper works with a coalition of mostly veterans groups called AfghanEvac, which is pushing the Trump administration to reopen the refugee process for Afghans. But in the past, it's been a bipartisan issue. Tim Kennedy, the Green Beret, is something of a celebrity for his career in mixed martial arts. He attended Trump's inauguration, and he supports the president. He just wants a fix for this issue.
KENNEDY: You know, we're not breaking the rules. These were approved visas through a current immigration system that were for people that fought with us.
LAWRENCE: Yesterday, on his first official day as secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth was asked about Afghan refugees. He said the U.S. stands with its allies, but he didn't elaborate.
Quil Lawrence, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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