Monday Morning Update -- October 27, 2025

Sacramento town hall, Wall Street Journal story about CAS, relocations update, and more

This week’s update highlights AfghanEvac’s work both on the ground and across the globe — from connecting directly with Afghan families and resettlement leaders in Sacramento, to monitoring the situation at Camp As Sayliyah (CAS) in Doha, Qatar, and continuing advocacy for those still awaiting relocation through Enduring Welcome. We’re also preparing for an important conversation with Governor Newsom’s immigration staff today about how California can fill the gaps left by federal inaction and lead on refugee integration. Plus, there are several major stories on Afghan-related issues this week and a national campaign called Hold The Door we’re proud to support focused on refugee admissions policy.

Let’s dig in.

Community Engagement in Sacramento

Yesterday, we met with Afghan families from across the Sacramento region at the California Hazara Community Center for an afternoon of connection, collaboration, and listening. The discussion centered on the ongoing challenges Afghan families face during resettlement and family reunification, and on how state and local partners can better coordinate to support those rebuilding their lives in California. It won’t surprise you to learn that we heard a lot about Follow to Join Asylee cases (I-730), DS4317, and other family reunification issues. We also heard a LOT about the need for pro bono representation. Here is a list of resources for those in the Sacramento area.

Later that evening, we joined resettlement leaders and Afghans awaiting reunification with loved ones for dinner — a moving, solutions-oriented dialogue about how California can continue to lead on refugee resettlement and integration.

Today, we’ll be meeting with Governor Newsom’s immigration team to discuss the federal landscape, identify policy gaps, and explore how state leadership can strengthen protections and support for Afghan families across California. We’ll likely share more on those discussions next week.

Relocations and Numbers

All government relocation flights out of Kabul have been suspended since Trump took office in January, and remain so. As such, about 265,000 Afghans in the Enduring Welcome pipeline remain stranded in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and as many as 90 other countries around the globe.

There are also still about 1300 Afghans who were relocated by the U.S. government and are now stuck in limbo in CAS without a clear pathway forward. Most of those individuals are in the refugee track – they were referred into the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which remains suspended per a Trump Executive Order signed on day one of his presidency. We sincerely hope that the USRAP suspension is lifted and that Afghan allies who were relocated out of Afghanistan by the U.S. government and brought to Qatar are able to continue their immigration processing and ultimately be resettled in the U.S. once they clear all vetting and security requirements.

Legislative Updates

The Enduring Welcome Act continues to garner bipartisan support, and in fact, we may have an announcement in the coming weeks about a Republican cosponsor in the Senate. Across the board, we’ve been grateful for the support of so many organizations, individuals, and Members of Congress who have stood with our wartime allies for the last 4+ years and this legislation is just indicative of the broad bipartisan backing we see across the country for Afghans.

Battle Buddies

I was honored to take part in another Battle Buddies action with our friends from IAVA this past week, this time in Virginia, where I was actually able to provide testimony during the hearing. The Afghan individual whose court appointment we attended was granted asylum, as were his family members. Providing testimony isn’t something we’ve done in the Battle Buddies program before, but it was incredibly gratifying to be able to do it. People across this ecosystem have built up a level of expertise in this area, and we’re looking into creating additional training for qualified Battle Buddies to do just that – another tool in our toolkit to stand up for our wartime allies.

Legal Update

Shout out to IRAP for filing a lawsuit on behalf of Follow to Join Asylum case holders who are being denied due to the travel ban. If this case is successful, one of the major things we hear about every week would be granted significant relief.

What We’re Reading

This week featured several important stories we think everyone should read – including this series from WBUR on Isanullah Garay, an Afghan asylum seeker undergoing treatment for brain cancer who was detained by ICE in Massachusetts last month. Although he was released last week, while in detention Garay was unable to continue his cancer treatment, causing his condition to deteriorate. DHS acknowledged during his bond hearing that he did not pose a danger to the community. We will continue to push back against the government’s overreach in detaining law abiding asylum seekers like Garay.

• The U.S. Evacuated Them from Afghanistan – Then They Got Stuck in the Desert – Wall Street Journal

• One family fled Afghanistan. Then US deportations scattered them across the world. – AP

• Judge Rejects Feds’ Request to Reverse Release of Afghan Interpreter for US Military – Military.com

• UK Defence Ministry Reveals Nearly 50 Data Breaches in Afghan Resettlement Schemes – Khaama Press

• The Growing Anti-Afghan Sentiment in the United States – CSOH

Hold the Door

This past week, World Relief, Women of Welcome, the National Immigration Forum, and other leaders in refugee resettlement launched the Hold the Door campaign in response to reports that the Trump Administration may set the refugee admission cap for the coming year at the lowest level in our country’s history. Under the authority of the Refugee Act of 1980, the President has the authority and responsibility to set a refugee ceiling after consulting with specific congressional leaders – but these consultations have reportedly not taken place.

AfghanEvac is proud to support this campaign, and we call on the Administration to set the refugee determination to at least 50K – the same level set in the first Trump Administration in 2017 – which still only represents about 0.1% of the world’s refugees. To close the door in the face of those seeking refuge goes against our nation’s ethos, and, especially for those Afghan allies at risk under the Taliban because of their association with the United States, could mean certain death.

Please join us in amplifying this message – and click the link to take action yourself – it only takes about three minutes: https://worldrelief.org/advocate/

Thank you all for your continued support – we’ll be back with more updates next week.