The shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members last week in Washington, D.C. is prompting the Trump administration to halt all asylum decisions and pause issuing visas for people traveling on Afghan passports. An Afghan national is blamed for the shooting that killed one of the National Guard members.
WOSU’s Debbie Holmes spoke with Nasima, an Afghanistan native, about what the halt on all asylums will mean to those from the Afghan community traveling to the U.S.
Editor's Note: WOSU is not using Nasima's last name to protect her identity.
Nasima retired from the U.S. Air Force after more than 25 years of service and has been helping people to relocate to Central Ohio from Afghanistan.
Debbie Holmes: What's your first reaction to what happened in the shootings and when you found out it was an Afghan national who was involved?
Nasima: Obviously initially when I saw it, it was devastating because it's a service member and you know, we still consider them our brothers and sisters. And then when I found out it was an Afghan native, I kind of knew that, you know, things were going to get bad for the Afghans in America. It's not just the ones that are coming, but the ones that are currently in the U.S.
Debbie Holmes: The Trump administration has paused asylum decisions and is re-examining green card applications of people from countries they say are, “of concern,” and they're halting visas for Afghans who helped the U.S. during the war. What are your thoughts on that?
Nasima: It is devastating for the Afghan community. I have personally helped bring over a hundred Afghans and most of them are in the central Ohio area. They're all here either on approved asylums or they're here as green card holders. So that would mean all those hundred that I personally helped are now going to be possibly negatively impacted and possibly deported back to Afghanistan. And they cannot go back to Afghanistan, because they will not survive very long if they are returned to Afghanistan.
Debbie Holmes: What have they told you then about the dangers?
Nasima: There is a tremendous vetting process. The vetting process initially when Kabul fell was not as good as it is today. But there is a vetting process and what they're afraid of is basically, you know, they're all working, they're all supporting their families. And what they're afraid of is either ICE is going to pick them up or, you know, they go for an interview for either their green card or re-interview for the green card and they will be denied and, you know, put in ICE camp.
Debbie Holmes: Do you know of any family members of yours that are trying to get to the U.S. now who can't?
Nasima: Absolutely. I have 23 family members that are currently in Doha on a U.S. military base. They've been there since January, but because of the travel ban, they've been in limbo and now I don't know what'll happen to them too. Doha is in Qatar. It's probably about a three, four-hour flight.
Debbie Holmes: From Kabul?
Nasima: Yes.
Debbie Holmes: And did you mention before that these folks are staying in Doha because they can't come?
Nasima: Exactly. So they were brought by the U.S. government under the Biden administration on the last couple of flights to Doha and they were supposed to be there for a period of time to be processed, but as soon as the Trump travel ban came through, everything for them was already paused and they've been there since January and they're still in limbo. There's a total of 1,300 Afghans that are affected by that. But 23 of them are our family members.
Debbie Holmes: What do you think this will mean then for folks waiting to be reunited with their family members?
Nasima: Having personally gone through that, you know, it traumatizes you when your families are separated. I left my mother when I was 13. So, it does traumatize you know, it stays with you for the rest of your life. But currently, what's more important is just making sure that the ones that are in the U.S. don't get deported and then the ones that are in transit get processed.
And if it's not to the United States, send them to Canada. But they've been in limbo for 10 months and there's no way forward because of the current policies. But we need our senators, who are also Republicans, to actually be advocates for us and talk to the Trump administration and provide some sort of exceptions for the ones that are in transit. And then, you know, I'm all about vetting. I spent all my life in national security and if it was my own relative that was a threat to the United States, I'd be the first one turning them in.
