Monday Morning Update -- January 26, 2025

Impact report, more violent immigration crackdowns, statement project, and the launch of the Global Alliance.

Good morning,

This week, as immigration crackdowns continue across the country, the need for advocacy and support for ALL vulnerable people remains at the forefront of all the work we’ve done and will continue to do. We will keep pushing for this country to do the right thing, both for those Afghans who have already resettled here and those still awaiting their chance. In the last year, so much has changed in this work, but we haven’t. This week we’ll look back over the last twelve months and highlight some of the most important stories.

Last week AfghanEvac released our Impact Report– a comprehensive document that outlines our work and our achievements from August 2021 through August 2025. We hope our supporters will read it as it represents thousands of hours of dedicated service to push our nation to keep the promises we made to our wartime allies.

We also have an update on CAS, a new project we’re launching, and finally, we’ll take a global perspective, with our response to President Trump’s remarks on the service of our allied partner forces in Afghanistan, and all the details on the announcement we teased last week.

Before we jump in, here’s this week’s action items:

1. Read our Impact Report! We are proud of the work that we’ve done in the last four and a half years and of the impact report itself. Please feel free to share it.

2. Support our ongoing work with a monthly recurring donation of $25 so we can keep doing this work. Small dollar donations add up and keep us in the fight.

3. Submit your story to our Statement Project and your story can make it into the congressional record.

The Year in Review

Since the administration change on January 20th 2025, all Afghan relocation and resettlement efforts have been suspended and slowly dismantled, abandoning thousands of eligible allies who were still waiting for their chance to build a life in the U.S. that they were promised.

• Jan. 20, 2025: Executive Order 14163 suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), halting refugee arrivals and cutting off one of the few lawful escape valves for people fleeing persecution, including Afghans who would otherwise qualify for resettlement. The EO went into effect on Jan 27th, but the State Department did not move a single refugee from the 20th to the 27th.

• Jan. 20, 2025: Executive Order 14169 suspends Foreign Aid, halting Enduring Welcome and all relocation efforts from Afghanistan and halting operations on processing sites around the globe. AfghanEvac was forced to establish a diaper underground railroad on U.S. processing sites.

• May 12, 2025: DHS terminates Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghans, putting thousands of Afghans already in the U.S. on a clock toward losing work authorization and lawful protection. This was set to take effect July 14, 2025 but was challenged (unsuccessfully) in court.

• June 2025: The administration moves to shut down or defund Operation Enduring Welcome, the main post-2021 Afghan relocation pipeline, signaling an official wind-down of U.S. commitments to Afghan allies.

• June 4, 2025: Trump issues a new entry-restrictions proclamation (travel ban) that includes Afghanistan, tightening the door on Afghan nationals and increasing uncertainty and delays, even where carve-outs technically exist.

• June 11, 2025: ICE detains a legally paroled Afghan ally after a required immigration hearing and fast-tracks deportation, a chilling message to Afghans who followed the rules, showed up to court, and still got targeted. AfghanEvac and IAVA launch Battle Buddies in response.

• July 2025: Afghan evacuees in UAE face expulsion back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, with reporting showing returns occurring even as the White House posture appeared reactive and disorganized, leaving allies exposed to grave risk.

• July 2025: ICE detains an Afghan translator in Connecticut with an approved SIV after a routine immigration appointment, reinforcing that even “protected” Afghan categories can end up in detention under aggressive enforcement practices.

• Mid-2025: The administration ends or strips temporary legal status at massive scale (TPS and humanitarian parole), pushing large immigrant populations into immediate precarity, family instability, job loss, and potential removal, with knock-on harm across refugee-adjacent communities.

• Nov. 2025: The administration pauses asylum decisions and pauses visa issuance for Afghan nationals after two national guardsmen are shot in Washington, DC, effectively punishing broad categories of Afghans for an individual incident, and freezing protection pathways midstream.

• Dec. 2025: An expanded travel-ban framework triggers warnings that Afghan SIV exemptions could be undermined in practice, raising alarms among veteran and ally-support organizations that “exempt” on paper can still become “blocked” in real life through implementation.

Impact Report

AfghanEvac was born during the chaotic weeks of late August 2021 and grew into something we could never have imagined back then. Our collaboration with the U.S. government under the last administration informed policy decisions, improved communications, increased urgency, and helped build one of the most effective humanitarian efforts in our nation’s history.

Over the course of 4.5 years, AfghanEvac met on a weekly basis with leadership in every government department involved in relocation and resettlement options, from the NSC to the State Department, DHS, DoD, HHS, and others. We pushed government when it was needed most, demanding increased efficiency and redundancy within relocation operations, and providing critical feedback that helped improve systems and move more of our Afghan allies, faster. Our advocacy efforts resulted in legislative wins that showed the depth of support for Afghans across congressional offices in both the House and Senate.

Our Impact Report details the timeline of those efforts, the legislative and policy wins, and watershed moments that moved the needle for our Afghan allies, and describes the key challenges and lessons learned that must be used to inform any future efforts. The report also lays out our short-, medium-, and long-term goals – because this work is not over until the mission is finished.

Please share it with anyone who you think would be interested in learning more about the depth and breadth of our impact.

Up to now, AfghanEvac has been an entirely volunteer effort, but looking at what has happened in the past year, and the work that still remains, means that we need to take steps to expand and professionalize the organization. We are actively seeking funding to ensure that we can meet the moment now and into the future. If you are interested in talking about how you or your organization can support us, please reach out and we can set up a time to connect.

CAS Update

We learned last week that the State Department is now planning to close Camp As-Sayliyah (CAS) and relocate all 1100 residents still stuck there to unidentified third countries by the end of March. Every one of the individuals at CAS was brought there by our government, and through no fault of their own have been trapped there for more than a year because of the Trump Administration’s policy decisions.

We have serious doubts that the State Department can identify third country options and safely relocate the Afghans out of CAS on that timeline in a way that doesn’t cause extensive additional harm. The individuals stuck there deserve onward resettlement to the U.S. as they were promised, not more uncertainty and instability.

AfghanEvac continues to advocate directly for the needs of the over one thousand people stranded with nowhere safe to go. Please stay tuned for more updates, we haven’t forgotten the need for this to stay top of mind for those who have the power to do something to open safety pathways for those stuck in this incredibly vulnerable situation.

NATO Countries’ Service in Afghanistan

Late last week, President Trump questioned the loyalty of our NATO allies in an interview from Davos, claiming that NATO troops “stayed a little back” from the frontlines in Afghanistan. Unsurprisingly and appropriately, NATO leaders and allied forces and veterans were angered by that callous and inaccurate assertion. Although President Trump has since tried to walk back his comments by praising the valor and service of UK troops, the insult and damage from his remarks cannot be undone.

Since its formation in 1949, NATO has only once invoked Article 5 of its treaty: on September 12, 2001, after the U.S. was attacked on 9/11. In the wake of that terror attack, and for the next twenty years, our allies stood shoulder to shoulder with U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan. Their service and sacrifices must not be diminished or questioned.

At AfghanEvac, we have worked directly with veterans, service members, and civilian partners from across NATO countries who were every bit as committed to the mission in Afghanistan as their American counterparts. Their dedication did not end when the war did; many have continued to show up, quietly and persistently, to help our Afghan allies find safety and rebuild their lives.

Global Alliance has launched

Today, AfghanEvac is launching the Global Alliance. In partnership with Local Staff International, this is a joint international effort grounded in a simple truth: a mission is not finished because it has become politically inconvenient. It is finished only when commitments are fulfilled. The Global Alliance brings civil society organizations across allied nations together to press governments to finish the mission for Afghan wartime allies and to establish binding standards so future mission partners are never abandoned.

Global Alliance Principles

• Finish the Mission: Complete resettlement for all eligible Afghan allies

• Restore and Protect Legal Pathways Without Arbitrary Cutoffs

• Guarantee Safe Status, Work Authorization, and Family Reunification

• Establish Binding “Never Again” Standards for Future Missions

• Create Permanent Accountability and Oversight Mechanisms

Statements Project

As you may already know, AfghanEvac organized a bunch of statements for the Senate Judiciary Hearing a few months ago. Over 1000 statements were submitted to our inbox from a variety of different sources, and that inspired our team to launch a new project to uplift the stories of those impacted by the United States’ decision to wholly end support for our Afghan wartime allies and their families. Toward that end, we are asking for your help. We want to hear from people who have been impacted by this, but how we do it matters.

• For American Citizens, we want you to share your stories and sign with your full name, location, and history of service to our nation.

• For non-U.S. citizens, we encourage you to share your stories and sign your statements, but do not include identifying information such as case numbers, locations, birthdates, or A numbers.

We intend to use these statements for any future congressional hearings, for our current advocacy, and potentially more. Send yours in today to statements@afghanevac.org

In The Press

• ‘Draft-dodging’ Trump should not criticise British troops, say US soldiers – The Telegraph

• The U.S. Is Forcing Afghan Allies Into Exile With No Way Forward – Reason

• Trump ‘wrong’ to claim Nato troops avoided Afghanistan front line, Downing Street says – BBC

• Trump claim on NATO role in Afghanistan draws UK condemnation – Al-Jazeera

• ‘The ultimate insult’: Trump downplaying NATO’s Afghanistan involvement causes distress in UK – ABC News

• ‘You were right there with us,’ American veteran says – BBC

• Starmer rebukes Trump over ‘frankly appalling’ remarks on Nato troops in Afghanistan – The Guardian

• Latest NewsMost Afghans in Pakistan reject German cash offer, await uncertain futures – Ariana News

Thanks for making it to the end of this week’s long and detailed update – your support is always appreciated. Remember to read and share our Impact Report, set up a recurring monthly donation, and consider sending us a submission for our Statement Project. See you back here next week, stay in the fight.