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What do American veterans think of Trump administration moves against Afghan refugees? The president responded last week after one Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. Trump froze the process under which thousands of Afghans were granted asylum. Many of them had risked their lives to work with the United States, which is why some veterans now feel their allies are being abandoned. NPR's Brian Mann reports.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: When Thomas Kasza deployed to Afghanistan in 2019 with the Green Berets, he served with a special unit of Afghans clearing IEDs and land mines.
THOMAS KASZA: The Afghans laid down their lives at pretty much four times the rate as a Green Beret did. So that's an incredible level of sacrifice that was undertaken by those guys.
MANN: After the Taliban captured Kabul in 2021, Kasza was one of the U.S. veterans who scrambled to help Afghan comrades escape. His group, the 1208 Foundation, is trying to rescue roughly 1,000 Afghans still living under Taliban rule whose family members fought alongside U.S. special forces.
KASZA: For the guys who are detected, the risk is catastrophically higher.
MANN: Under the Biden administration, tens of thousands of Afghan allies and their families were vetted and allowed into the U.S. But last week, one of those men, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who worked with the CIA, allegedly opened fire on two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., leaving one dead, the other seriously wounded. Lakanwal pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges. Hours after the attack, President Trump condemned the Afghan refugee effort.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden.
MANN: The attack in D.C., followed by Trump's freeze on asylum claims, were devastating for Afghans like M, who worked for the U.S. Defense Department in Kabul before fleeing to the U.S.
M: Everyone is scared. It's so sad. It's scary.
MANN: M agreed to speak with NPR if we only identified her by an initial. She fears the U.S. government could strip her legal status. She also fears for the safety of family members still in Afghanistan. M says Afghans who worked with the U.S. left behind under the Taliban are in grave danger.
M: Everyone who are associated or worked for the U.S. themself, plus their family, are in trouble.
MANN: NPR heard over and over the delays in the Afghan refugee process could be deadly for U.S. allies. Mohamed (ph) worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Kabul and now helps organize asylum efforts.
MOHAMED: We lost one person that he were arrested by the Taliban and beaten to the death. He died. He lost his life. And we have his family that we're working on their paperwork to bring them over here.
MANN: Mohamed, too, agreed to be interviewed only if NPR concealed his full name because he fears for the safety of family members still in Afghanistan. Mohamed said if the U.S. leaves behind Afghans who served alongside American soldiers, it would send a grim message.
MOHAMED: All the world will identify United States Army like a fair-weather friend. They just use them, and after that, if their work is done, so they just abandon them.
MANN: NPR reached out to the Defense Department to ask how Trump's freeze on asylum claims for America's Afghan allies might affect operations in future conflicts. A spokesman declined to comment. But U.S. military veterans leading the Afghan refugee effort say the policy could dissuade future allies. Shawn VanDiver is a U.S. Navy veteran with the group #AfghanEvac.
SHAWN VANDIVER: They're going to point at what has happened with our Afghan allies and say, hell, no, we're not going to help you. Look what you did.
MANN: Thomas Kasza, the former Green Beret, says he too thinks this policy could haunt the U.S.
KASZA: Those future U.S. partners are going to know what is happening today. Everybody who partners with us is going to ask, hey, what happens when the Americans leave? And they're going to point to this.
MANN: Kasza says he still hopes to convince the Trump administration that America's Afghan allies paid a heavy price, earning a chance at life in the U.S.
Brian Mann, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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