Abu Sabet: U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered its diplomats worldwide to stop processing visas for Afghan nationals, according to a State Department cable seen by Reuters, effectively suspending the special immigration program for Afghans who helped the United States during its 20-year-long occupation of their home country.
The cable, sent to all U.S. diplomatic posts on Friday, says that effective immediately, consular officers are instructed to reject any immigrant or non-immigrant visa applications from Afghan nationals including applicants for Special Immigrant Visas.
On Wednesday, a former member of one of Afghanistan's CIA-backed units was accused of shooting two U.S. National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C. One of them later died.
The State Department on Saturday referred Reuters to a statement on platform X by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday in which he said that "ALL individuals" traveling on Afghan passports would have their visa issuance "paused."
The cable on Friday, which was earlier reported by the New York Times, said the move to stop processing visas for Afghan nationals was aimed at "ensuring the applicant's identity and eligibility for a visa under U.S. law."
A volunteer group helping support the United States' Afghan allies said the cable was part of an effort by the Trump administration to bar all Afghans from making it to the United States.
"There is no doubt this is the outcome they have been driving toward for months," Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, said in an email.
BP/SM
