President Donald Trump is set to implement a new travel ban that could bar Afghanistan and Pakistan from entering the US. This news is based on an executive order that directed the government to submit a list of countries from which travel should be partially or fully suspended. Other nations could also be on the list but it is still not clear.
The move is to the travel restrictions placed during the first term of Trump on several Muslim-majority nations in 2017. It was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018 but later revoked by the Joe Biden administration in 2021.
The US State Department is doing the full review of visa programs. A US official familiar with the situation informed me that Afghanistan could be among the nations included.
According to officials, the ban could come as soon as next week. It is still not clear if final decisions on countries and timing have been made.
If Afghanistan is included in the new travel ban policy, it would impact tens of thousands of Afghans who worked alongside the US during its two decades of war
there, as the new restriction would block Afghan nations from entering the USA.
Tens of thousands of Afghans have already been caught in limbo due to other Trump administration executive orders to suspend the US refugee admissions programs and the suspension of foreign aid funding for flights of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders.
AfghanEvac, a coalition of organizations, is continuously working to bring Afghan allies to safety after the Afghanistan War in 2021. The organization urged all Afghan nations having valid US visas to travel as soon as possible amid clear indications that a travel ban would affect Afghani nationals.
While there has been no official announcement. This policy change can significantly impact Afghan visa holders who have been awaiting relocation to the US.
