Veterans Race to Bring Afghan Allies to U.S. Before Trump Travel Ban
The New York Times
The nonprofit No One Left Behind has raised millions of dollars for flights and other assistance to prevent Afghans from being stranded abroad and face retribution from the Taliban.
The fate of thousands of Afghans waiting to reach the United States after serving with American troops was thrown into limbo after President Trump took office. Now military veterans are scrambling to bring as many of them as possible to the country before the administration introduces a travel ban that could restrict their entry.
In an executive order on Jan. 20, Mr. Trump instructed cabinet members, including the secretary of state, to compile a list of countries “for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.”
The order called for the list to to be completed within 60 days. As that deadline nears, supporters of the Afghan allies have accelerated efforts to bring those eligible to the United States.
“We have been engaged in high-intensity, frenetic work,” said Andrew Sullivan, a military veteran and the executive director of No One Left Behind, a nonprofit whose team has been working marathon days to raise money and arrange flights.
Amid the chaotic pullout from Afghanistan in August 2021, the U.S. military helped evacuate 78,000 Afghans who worked as interpreters and in other capacities during the war. Tens of thousands of other who aided U.S. forces are still trying to reach the United States.
