Monday Morning Update -- June 9, 2025
Unfortunately, last week was another really terrible week for our shared efforts. We continue to see the Administration take action after action to dismantle Afghan relocation and resettlement efforts. We will continue to speak out against what they’re doing and push hard to reverse these decisions that are so harmful to our wartime allies, our veterans, service members, and the frontline civilians and volunteers who care so much about this critical issue.
The most important things you can do to help right now are to contact your legislators, make sure Afghans you are helping are in touch with appropriate legal resources, and donate to orgs (including AfghanEvac) who are fighting this fight.
Below you’ll find a summary of what you need to know, followed by more details on key topics in the links and descriptions that follow.
What happened last week
The Visa ban, which we’ve been expecting for months, came out last week, and includes an exemption for Afghan SIVs. There has been a lot of back and forth on certain elements of the ban. Several questions remain about implementation, including how I-730 cases (Follow to Join Asylees and Refugees) and HP cases will be handled. We have heard from within the State Department that they are likely to pause processing on those cases until the lawyers figure out implementation. Keep reading below for a detailed explanation of what this visa ban does and doesn’t do. Also, please review IRAP’s explainer on the issue.
I spoke at the Unite for Veterans, Unite for America rally on Friday. The rally was held on the National Mall in DC and there was a strong, bipartisan group of about 10,000 veterans in attendance. You can watch my speech in its entirety here or visit the rally website for the whole program.
What’s coming up?
6/10, (Tuesday) at 10AM the nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia will be before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for their confirmation hearing. We’ve asked the committee staff to ensure at least one question gets asked about CARE.
6/16 to 6/19: Afghan Support Center in Oakland, CA. I’ve attached the flyers to this email. We will be there 6/16 and 6/17.
Visa Ban Summary
Overview
On June 4, 2025, the President issued a proclamation titled Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats. It went into effect TODAY June 9, 2025 at 12:01 AM EDT.
Impacted Countries
Entry is fully or partially suspended for nationals of the following 19 countries:
Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Chad, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Scope
Applies only to travelers without valid visas issued on or before June 8, 2025.
Those with valid visas issued before June 9, 2025 may still board and be inspected per standard CBP procedures.
Exemptions
Travelers not subject to the ban include:
U.S. lawful permanent residents (LPRs)
Dual nationals (if traveling on passport of a non-designated country)
Holders of specific nonimmigrant visa categories (A, C, G, NATO, etc.)
Athletes and support staff for international sporting events
Immediate relatives (IR-1, IR-2, etc.) with clear evidence of relationship
Adoptees (IR-3, IH-3, etc.)
Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders
SIVs for U.S. government employees
Immigrant visas for ethnic/religious minorities from Iran
SIV Exemption Impact
While it is positive that Afghan SIVs and their family members are exempt from this visa ban, the reality is that the infrastructure created to enable their actual processing and travel is being dismantled by other actions taken by the Trump Administration. The office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) is set to close on July 1st – less than three weeks from now. And Enduring Welcome is set to close out by September 30th per the President’s budget.
The exemption for Afghan SIVs is functionally useless if the mechanisms to relocate eligible individuals and the staff needed to process their cases are dismantled and defunded.
Special Note on Humanitarian Parole (HP) and Follow to Join (FTJ) cases
While not explicitly exempted, travelers with valid HP foils issued before June 9, 2025, are expected to be permitted to board under guidance associated with the final clause on a recent CBP bulletin (re: I-512, PARCIS documents). These travelers are considered “out of scope.”
However, Follow to Join Refugees and Follow to Join Asylees (FTJ-R / FTJ-A) and HP applicants who have not yet been issued travel documents are likely to face interview delays and be placed into administrative processing until further legal guidance is issued. This information was communicated via internal (non-public) guidance and is not yet publicly available.
Document Validation
Airlines participating in the Document Validation program may receive “Do Not Board” guidance.
Those outside the program are directed to coordinate with Regional Carrier Liaison Groups.
Practical Implication
This effectively freezes forward movement for the majority of family reunification and humanitarian pathways from designated countries unless a visa/foil was already issued. The few exceptions are tightly defined and we expect that the Administration won’t be in a hurry to get the FTJ-A / FTJ-R / HP pipeline moving again.
What we’re reading
U.S. Abandons Afghan Allies as Trump Administration Shuts Down Resettlement Programs – Reason
What exactly is Trump’s new travel ban about? Not national security – CNN Politics
Humanitarian organization reacts to Trump’s travel ban on Afghanistan – MSNBC
Afghans who helped US war effort feel betrayed by Trump’s travel ban – CNN
AfghanEvac President Shawn VanDiver discussing Trump Travel Ban 2.0 on BBC World News – BBC
Trump Bans Entry of Citizens From 12 Countries Including Afghanistan – TOLOnews
‘One Hell After Another’: US Travel Ban Deepens Despair For Afghans Awaiting Visas - Barron’s
Trump announces travel ban and restrictions on 19 countries – MSN
Former Afghan soldier arrested at Houston-area home by ICE, stripped of asylum protections, attorney says – Houston Public Media
By the numbers -
The numbers below have been verified by us and are based on official U.S. government numbers.
CARE Pipeline (Refugees and SIVs)
Over 212,000 Afghans identified in the CARE pipeline in Afghanistan
Of this number, about 50,000 are in the USRAP category, the rest are consular track (SIV/IV/etc)
Over 50,000 Afghans outside of Afghanistan in the CARE pipeline
Of this number, about 25,000 are in the USRAP category, the rest are consular track (SIV/IV/etc)
More than 55,000 Afghans in Afghanistan are far enough along in vetting to be manifested or in the process of manifesting
There are 12,000 individuals in the “family reunification” category in Afghanistan alone, awaiting reunification with loved ones here in the U.S.
3,000 individuals are family of active duty U.S. military, trapped because they are in the USRAP pipeline. 200 of those are in Qatar, trapped on the U.S. Government facility with no pathway to safety. There are about 1,000 other refugees also stuck in Doha.
About 200 American Citizens are still in Afghanistan, most of whom are waiting with family members in the relocation process.
Total SIV pipeline numbers
About 163,000 Afghans with Chief of Mission (COM) approval
Over 31,000 Principal Applicants
About 132,000 family members (called derivatives)
125,000 of those with Chief of Mission Approval are “Interview Ready”
About 50,000 Applicants are at the Chief of Mission stage for approval.
There are 1,000 Chief of Mission decisions happening every week, with about 30% of those decisions being approvals.
There are less than 10,000 principal applicant visas remaining before we reach the cap authorized by Congress.
At the current rate of issuance, however, we anticipate that those remaining visas will last through 2-3 years.
We will eventually need somewhere between 40-50k more to meet the total demand.
The Administration’s actions this week have made it even harder to keep our promises to our allies. But we’ve also seen an outpouring of support from veterans and civilians alike—proof that this issue still matters to so many. We’re going to keep pushing this Administration to reverse course on dismantling Enduring Welcome, and we’ll keep you updated every step of the way.
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