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When the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan five years ago, thousands of Afghans who helped U.S. troops in the two-decade war were brought here to rebuild their lives. But now some fear the U.S. government may send them back. NPR's Ximena Bustillo reports.
XIMENA BUSTILLO, BYLINE: David's journey to the U.S. from Afghanistan began five years ago.
DAVID: Me and my family, we travel Pakistan, and then they transferred us to Qatar.
BUSTILLO: What finally brought him into the U.S. was a Special Immigrant Visa, or SIV, designed for Afghan allies. He was an interpreter and a translator for the U.S. Army. David brought his family in 2022, eventually having two more children in the U.S., and they were here to stay. But one day last summer, David said he received a letter from the U.S. government informing him of the retroactive revocation of his SIV. He asked NPR to use his English nickname out of concern for his case.
DAVID: I had hope when I got the approval, it was a wish come through. But once I received, like, the rejection, when they say your approval is no more, it was, like, the worst day of my life.
BUSTILLO: David says he no longer relies on that SIV since he's become a lawful permanent resident. But he's worried his green card is now at risk, and this could mean...
DAVID: Going back to Afghanistan.
BUSTILLO: ...Going back to Afghanistan.
DAVID: It's going to be, like, the end for me if I go back. And still, I have nightmares every time.
BUSTILLO: Since 2009, the State Department has issued 160,000 Afghan SIVs, and more than half of those after the U.S. withdrew from Kabul in 2021.
JENNIFER PATOTA: To get a withdrawal of approval letter years after the actual visa has been issued is something we haven't ever seen before.
BUSTILLO: That is Jennifer Patota, deputy director of the U.S. Legal Services at the International Refugee Assistance Project, a nonpartisan advocacy group. She says since last year, her organization has been approached by hundreds of people who reported this experience.
PATOTA: So what's happening is people are totally freaked out, scared, unsure of what to do.
BUSTILLO: The government says it's revoking visas because they suspect some of the supporting documents for Afghan SIV applications were fraudulent. Under the Biden administration, the Justice Department identified and prosecuted such fraud. But David says he's baffled as to why the government accused him now, given he has no connection to these fraudulent activities. The State Department and USCIS, the branch of the Homeland Security Department that's sending the letters, did not respond to questions about the revocations.
Shawn VanDiver is the president of Afghan Evac, an organization that advocates for these wartime partners. He says the government's heavy-handed attempt to root out fraud is harming legitimate allies.
SHAWN VANDIVER: They're doing everything they can to make it opaque and hard, and they're just not doing it with any level of compassion for these folks.
BUSTILLO: While the legal mechanics remain a debate, for M, who lives in California with his wife and three kids, it's his reality. M worked with the U.S. military for two years, and he and his family were granted an SIV, and they received their green cards in 2024. He asked NPR to identify him by his first initial out of fear of government retaliation.
M: We received our green cards and started rebuilding our life here. I am thankful to the U.S. government for giving my family safety in a new beginning.
BUSTILLO: M is working towards his cybersecurity degree. His wife is taking English classes, and they thought they were settling down in the U.S. for good until that letter late last year.
M: Suddenly, someone is telling you, you don't have any status with us. Like, what's going on?
BUSTILLO: He's tried appealing, providing more information about his work and letters from former supervisors. But the appeal was rejected, and he doesn't know what to do.
M: Every single immigration attorney is telling me different opinion. I'm not asking for special treatment. I'm asking for a fair review of the verification issue.
BUSTILLO: Some attorneys warn because the underlying SIV was revoked, the green card could be next. If this happens, they may get sent to immigration court to argue for asylum.
M: This situation has affected my family deeply. We are trying to work, study, pay rent, raise our children and build a normal life in U.S. But now we are also trying to find lawyers, contact congressional offices and understand what may happen to our green cards.
BUSTILLO: While there's little sign yet of deportations following the letters, lawyers say the legal ambiguity is leaving hundreds of families in limbo. And five years after fleeing Kabul, these U.S. wartime allies are once again fighting for a future they thought was already secured. Ximena Bustillo, NPR News, Washington.
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