ISLAMABAD: Afghans stranded in Pakistan while awaiting US resettlement said on Thursday Washington’s decision to pause immigration applications has shattered their expectations of relocation and left them vulnerable to possible mass deportations by Islamabad.
The policy, announced by the Trump administration earlier this week, halts processing of green cards, citizenship petitions and Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) from 19 countries already under a partial travel ban, including Afghanistan and Somalia.
For thousands who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in 2021, the move has upended years of waiting.
“It was very shocking, a traumatic situation, what we had hoped for, it went against our aspirations,” said Ihsan Ullah Ahmadzai, an Afghan journalist and human rights activist living in Pakistan.
He said the pause risked giving Pakistani authorities “a green light” to deport Afghans whose US cases are now indefinitely on hold.
Pakistan has ordered undocumented foreigners to leave or face expulsion, a directive that has intensified pressure on Afghan refugees who viewed US immigration processing as their only viable route to safety.
For Afghan refugee Fatima Ali Ahmadi, the decision has deepened uncertainty.
“I’m sad about my future because of this I can’t reach my hopes. I want to be an athlete and a journalist, but it’s impossible in Pakistan or Afghanistan,” she said, adding that she fled to Pakistan to escape Taliban threats.
She urged the US government to allow vulnerable Afghans to continue their cases. “We are just looking for safety and a chance to rebuild our lives,” she said.
