(UNITED STATES) Afghan refugees reacted with shock and fear on November 25, 2025, after the United States government announced an indefinite US immigration halt on refugee admissions, freezing the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program and cutting funding for resettlement support. Advocacy groups warned the move, pushed by President Trump’s administration, could leave tens of thousands of Afghans stuck in dangerous limbo in Iran, Pakistan and other countries, and push many toward forced return to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
What changed and who it affects
The decision marked a sharp reversal from earlier plans for the 2025 fiscal year, when the United States had proposed resettling 125,000 refugees, including many Afghans who worked with American troops, diplomats and aid groups after 2001. Those plans are now frozen, with processing for new arrivals stopped and critical support for Afghans already in the pipeline suddenly in doubt.
For Afghans who believed they would soon travel to safety in the United States, the announcement felt like a door slammed shut. Many had pinned their hopes on the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), a program long used to resettle interpreters, drivers and other workers who directly helped U.S. forces and agencies and are now at risk from the Taliban.
“Do not abandon us,” has become a common plea in WhatsApp groups and community meetings among Afghan refugees from Islamabad to Istanbul, according to aid workers.
Families who sold homes or borrowed heavily to survive while they waited for resettlement interviews say they now face impossible choices: remain without legal status in host countries, or go back to Afghanistan despite clear danger.
Scale of the regional crisis
The halt comes as pressure grows on Afghans across the region. The United Nations estimates there are about 5.8 million Afghan refugees worldwide in 2025, many living in Iran and Pakistan with limited rights and rising hostility from local authorities.
Key movement and return figures:
– Between October 2024 and July 2025, more than 1.9 million Afghans returned from Iran and Pakistan, many after what rights groups describe as forced or coerced removals.
– In just the first half of 2025, more than 1.5 million Afghans went back to their country, often with little preparation or support.
– Of those, over 938,000 were deported from Iran
– More than 300,000 were deported from Pakistan
Humanitarian groups say the US immigration halt risks adding to that pressure by removing one of the few meaningful resettlement options many Afghans still had.
Humanitarian and protection concerns
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has warned that the wave of returns is creating what he called a “multi-layered human rights crisis” inside Afghanistan. Returnees often arrive to find:
- no jobs
- no homes
- almost no public services
Many have spent years in Iran or Pakistan and come back with no local support network, while basic services such as healthcare and education remain stretched or out of reach.
Women and girls, already facing some of the world’s harshest restrictions under Taliban rule, are especially exposed. Aid agencies report cases of families sending teenage daughters out of the country alone, hoping they might reach safety and schooling abroad. With the refugee pipeline to the United States now blocked, aid workers fear more families may turn to smugglers and dangerous journeys rather than accept a future under the Taliban.
US government rationale and criticism
The US government has framed the pause as a necessary review of refugee and parole programs, including the Afghan pathways created after the 2021 evacuation from Kabul. Officials have not given a timeline for resuming admissions, saying only that the pause is indefinite while security and resource concerns are examined.
Critics say that language masks an effective “refugee ban,” especially for Afghans who have already cleared multiple security checks and background screenings. Human Rights Watch and other organizations argue Western countries are sending the wrong signal at a fragile moment.
While the United Nations refugee agency continues to call for voluntary, safe and dignified returns, rights advocates say the reality is many Afghans are being pushed back against their will. They warn that forced returns and closed resettlement routes could strengthen hardliners in Kabul and deepen instability across the region.
Impact on individuals and communities
Afghan community leaders in the United States say they are already seeing the impact on relatives stuck abroad. Some families had spent months gathering documents for SIV applications, including letters from former U.S. supervisors and proof of threats from the Taliban. Now, they are being told that their cases are frozen along with other refugee processing, fueling panic and depression among applicants who had felt a rare sense of hope.
According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, the suspension of the Special Immigrant Visa program could also weaken trust in future US promises to local partners during conflicts. Many of the Afghans now affected worked side by side with American soldiers and civil servants, often under direct threat. Advocacy groups say that if those workers are left behind, it will be harder for the United States to convince local allies to cooperate in any future military or diplomatic mission.
Wider program and funding implications
While the current announcement focuses on refugee admissions and resettlement funding, lawyers say they expect ripple effects across other Afghan protection programs:
- Possible delays in humanitarian parole and family reunification
- Concerns that consular staff will slow work on pending SIV cases even if some technical processing continues
The State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, which outlines program rules and annual targets on its refugee admissions page, has yet to publish detailed guidance on how the pause will be applied in practice, beyond the broad language of an “indefinite review.”
Funding shortfalls inside Afghanistan
Inside Afghanistan, aid workers say the funding crisis is biting just as needs grow. The 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Afghanistan is only between 22 and 31 percent funded, leaving agencies to cut food, shelter and healthcare programs.
Consequences for returnees and host communities:
– In some provinces, returnees are sleeping in abandoned buildings or out in the open.
– Many have little more than plastic sheeting for protection from the weather.
Important warning: the combination of reduced resettlement routes and underfunded humanitarian programs increases the risk of widespread suffering, exploitation and instability.
Key takeaways
- The US pause on refugee admissions announced November 25, 2025 freezes SIV processing and resettlement funding indefinitely.
- The move affects plans to resettle 125,000 refugees in 2025 and threatens tens of thousands of Afghans who aided U.S. missions.
- Millions of Afghans already face rising hostility in host countries and mass returns; the US halt may intensify these pressures.
- Humanitarian funding shortfalls inside Afghanistan exacerbate the crisis for returnees, women and children.
- Advocacy groups warn this decision could erode future trust and cooperation with local partners and deepen regional instability.
Many Afghan refugees say the US immigration halt has turned the Special Immigrant Visa promise to dust.
The U.S. announced an indefinite halt to refugee admissions on November 25, 2025, pausing the Special Immigrant Visa program and cutting resettlement funding. This decision suspends plans to resettle 125,000 refugees in 2025 and leaves many Afghans who aided U.S. missions stranded in transit countries. Aid groups warn the pause will intensify forced returns, increase reliance on smugglers, and worsen humanitarian conditions amid severe funding shortfalls inside Afghanistan.
