LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Hours after being sworn in, and with a stroke of the pen, President Trump suspended the U.S. refugee program. He argues the country doesn't have the capacity to absorb large numbers of refugees, so thousands of people who were waiting to reach safety in the U.S. after years of vetting found themselves in limbo. As NPR's Diaa Hadid reports, they include thousands of Afghans who worked with the United States and those who fought alongside U.S. forces.
SURAYYA: This is not easy. Sorry (crying).
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: Surayya asks not to use her full name because her safety is at risk. She used to work on women's rights projects with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
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HADID: But she fled the country after the Taliban overran the Capitol more than three years ago. She knew her life was in danger because shadowy assassins believed to be linked to the Taliban had been killing women like her even before they seized power, feminists collaborating with the enemy to spread immoral Western ideas. Surayya went to neighboring Pakistan, and from there she applied for asylum in the U.S., and it was accepted.
SURAYYA: We were waiting for the flight. Unfortunately, now it is, like, suspended.
HADID: Suspended after President Trump suspended America's refugee program. Surayya says she and her family can't believe it.
SURAYYA: It's a shock, believe me. It's a shock, and I don't know what to do. If I go back to Afghanistan, I will be prosecuted or even be killed by Taliban (crying).
HADID: She says it wasn't meant to be like this. She was meant to be evacuated after the Taliban overran Kabul, but she and thousands of others who had worked with U.S. diplomats and forces in Afghanistan weren't able to get on planes during America's chaotic exit from the country.
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HADID: That exit was set in motion after the first Trump administration signed a deal with the Taliban to withdraw after nearly 20 years in the country. As the U.S. left, service members lobbied for their Afghan allies to be given asylum.
SHAWN VANDIVER: Afghan service members who fought alongside us, bled alongside us.
HADID: Shawn VanDiver is from AfghanEvac, a nonprofit that helps resettle America's Afghan allies. He says those people also include civilians.
VANDIVER: These are lawyers and judges, prosecutors who put the Taliban away.
HADID: He says about 200,000 Afghans have already arrived as refugees to the United States. Several thousand more came into the country through a different pipeline, and there's about another 50,000 still waiting for asylum. They're now in limbo. VanDiver says he hopes President Trump's administration...
VANDIVER: Can do a carve-out for our wartime allies.
HADID: Many of them, like Surayya, are waiting in neighboring Pakistan. They're not welcome. Pakistan has been deporting hundreds of thousands of Afghans. And Surayya, whose asylum to the U.S. has been suspended, is afraid she and her family will be forced to return.
SURAYYA: Police of Pakistan are searching for Afghans. I'm not safe here. And if I go back in Afghanistan, my life is not safe. My kid's life is not safe. What should I do?
HADID: Others who were waiting to fly to the U.S. are hiding in Afghanistan, like Roshangar. He asks we don't use his full name because he's been on the run.
ROSHANGAR: We have been constantly changing our places.
HADID: He says the Taliban want his head because...
ROSHANGAR: I had worked alongside U.S. pilots, reviewing and approving, signing airstrikes against Taliban.
HADID: Roshangar says he was waiting to do a medical check. It's one of the last steps in the U.S. asylum process. Now?
ROSHANGAR: The Trump administration already turned its back to us. He is unfortunately putting our lives in grave danger.
HADID: Roshangar says suspending asylum to people like him goes beyond the harm. It will likely cause America's Afghan allies...
ROSHANGAR: I think Mr. Trump is sending messages to his allies that we are not going to keep our promise. We will turn our back to you when it's a dark time.
HADID: He says maybe one day when America seeks help again, former allies, countries and people will turn their backs, too.
Diaa Hadid, NPR News, Mumbai. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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