Thousands of Afghans Who Assisted U.S. Military Prevented from Entering the U.S.

In August 2021, Tamim Satari hurried to the Kabul International Airport to escape Afghanistan after his service as an intelligence officer for the U.S. military, assisting them in coordinating aerial bombing campaigns against the Taliban. However, amidst the chaos of the U.S. withdrawal, his wife and newborn son were left behind.

“It was incredibly difficult, and we didn’t want to lose our little son,” Satari recounted.

CBS News

He was not the only one. Thousands of Afghan families were torn apart during the hasty withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Infants were passed through crowds and over fences, while families desperately rushed to reach the airport gates.

Three years later, over 10,000 families remain divided, as reported by Shawn VanDiver, founder of #AfghanEvac, a nonprofit that collaborated with the State Department to assist in reuniting separated Afghan families.

“There are so many parents and young children stuck here without their loved ones,” VanDiver expressed. “These individuals face danger because of our actions. The least we can do is help them reunite.” 

According to VanDiver, the total number of children separated from their parents includes 2,800 unaccompanied refugee minors—children who managed to reach the U.S. but whose parents did not accompany them, or who were left behind as their parents escaped.

VanDiver collaborates with the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, known as CARE, a State Department initiative established to assist Afghan allies in wartime with immigration to the U.S.

Since 2021, the CARE program has facilitated the travel of nearly 200,000 Afghans, as per documents examined by CBS News.

This includes those with special immigrant visas who served as wartime allies typically compensated by the U.S. government. It also encompasses Afghan refugees who provided support to the U.S. mission, either in military roles, as civil society members, or as relatives of those who served. 

“The reality is, everyone in the refugee pipeline and every individual in the [special immigrant visa] pipeline is someone who acted in our name and is now in peril,” VanDiver noted.

“These Afghans deserve everything we can offer them because they safeguarded us.”

After unsuccessful attempts to bring his wife and son to safety on his own, Satari reached out to CARE in 2023 for assistance with their visa process. His wife, Shiba, and their son had escaped to Pakistan after Taliban threats against her for continuing her work as a midwife while Satari was in the U.S.

On January 18, just before President Trump’s inauguration, Shiba and their son arrived at JFK airport in New York before being transported to Newark, New Jersey, for an emotional reunion with her husband. Tamim had not seen his son, now nearly four years old, since he was a newborn. 

The reunion of the Satari family at Newark Liberty International Airport was among the last refugee reuniting instances to occur.

Just three days later, President Trump signed an executive order halting the U.S. refugee program, claiming that “the United States lacks the capacity to absorb large numbers of migrants, especially refugees, without compromising the availability of resources for Americans, ensuring their safety and security, and facilitating appropriate refugee assimilation.” 

A federal judge mandated the administration to halt the ban, but since then, normal refugee processing has not resumed. A recent court filing by administration lawyers indicated that reinstating refugee programs will take time due to prior contract reductions, workforce cuts, and funding freezes. 

In addition to Trump’s executive order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio froze all federal financing for the programs facilitating travel for Afghans already approved for resettlement in the U.S. This has left those vetted and approved for travel—including those holding special immigrant visas—unable to leave Afghanistan unless they can fund the trip themselves.

According to documents reviewed by CBS, over 40,000 Afghans who have been vetted and authorized to depart Afghanistan are now in precarious situations, with their lives in jeopardy.

“I’ve heard countless horror stories of torture and murder of these allies of the United States,” stated Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, who backed the CARE program.

“I urge the administration to consider this situation and to uphold the commitment we made to [our allies], ensuring we do not break our promise but rather, provide protection to them.”

However, Trump and other Republican lawmakers have voiced concerns that allowing Afghans to enter the U.S. poses a terrorism risk. 

McCaul and other advocates for the program argue that the vetting process is already exceptionally rigorous. 

“Want to vet them again? Go ahead. But they have already undergone some of the most thorough vetting in American history,” McCaul expressed to CBS News. 

Afghans arriving in the U.S. are screened by the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. They undergo multiple in-person interviews, and their biometrics are compared against government databases, alongside comprehensive medical exams. 

“Afghans coming to this country through the CARE program represent the most thoroughly vetted immigrant population in our nation’s history,” stated a former State Department official. 

Satari remains optimistic about not being one of the last to reunite with his family. He has settled in New Jersey and works in a mechanical position while preparing for his real estate license.

“I have high hopes for the future. I aspire to build a great life,” Satari said. “I am committed to caring for my son and enrolling him in school while starting lessons myself. I have great hope.”