The Trump administration has shifted its immigration approach into a phase that has resulted in sudden detentions, cancelled interviews and halted legal processes for thousands of Afghans in the United States.
This report, compiled from several US local media outlets, highlights numerous cases of summonses and arrests of Afghans.
In the week since a former Afghan soldier shot two US National Guard troops in Washington, the United States has entered what many observers describe as the most aggressive immigration-policy shift in the country’s recent history. From southern Arizona to immigration offices in Sacramento and New York, a single directive from Donald Trump has cast uncertainty over the future of many Afghans living in the country.
The Incident and the Government’s Immediate Response
On 26 November, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker, attacked two National Guard soldiers, wounding them. One later died, and the other remains hospitalised. The incident triggered an abrupt change in US immigration policy.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt announced in the days after the shooting that the government had launched a review of all Afghans who entered the United States during the Biden administration. This position is now reflected in decisions and day-to-day actions of immigration agencies.
A Rise in Arrests
Reports from several American media outlets show that in the first weeks following the Washington incident, roughly twenty Afghan nationals have been detained across the United States. The Associated Press reported that many of these arrests occurred in Northern California, home to one of the country’s largest Afghan communities.
Local newspapers, including The Sacramento Bee and the San Francisco Chronicle, published independent reports indicating that at least eight to twelve Afghan men were detained in Sacramento and Northern California. These reports cite sudden summonses, the use of electronic ankle monitors and the cancellation of immigration interviews.
On 1 December, several Afghan men entered a federal building in downtown Sacramento after receiving phone calls from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to volunteers who witnessed the events, each man was taken into custody as soon as he entered the building. Local Sacramento outlets reported six arrests that day.
According to immigration attorneys, none of those detained had a serious criminal record. In one instance, the wife of a detainee was visibly distressed as she left the building.
In Des Moines, Iowa, an Afghan man was stopped and arrested by immigration officers on his way to work. Agents accused him of being a terrorist without presenting any evidence. The Associated Press reported that he was released two hours later after the agents apologised.
In New York, reports indicate that Afghan asylum interviews have been cancelled, several individuals have been detained during routine administrative visits and a heightened level of scrutiny is being applied to Afghan cases. Some Afghans who have lived in the United States for years have received urgent calls ordering them to appear immediately.
A Sacramento immigration adviser also confirmed that several Afghan-related interviews scheduled for that week were cancelled.
Meanwhile, an attorney representing an Afghan asylum-seeker said his client, who fled Taliban threats last year, now faces deportation despite committing no crime. The man was detained after entering a federal office building in New York for a routine administrative appointment.
Also in New York, a group of American citizens, including teachers, neighbours, friends and local community members, showed up at a federal building to support an Afghan family of four who had been summoned by immigration authorities. Although they were not invited, they came to testify to the family’s good conduct.
A few days earlier, Jahanshah Safi, a former Afghan military officer, was arrested on allegations that he financed ISIS through his father. But former US intelligence analyst Sarah Adams, speaking in Waynesboro, expressed doubt about the case, saying the accusations were inconsistent with the information known about him. Safi was arrested on 3 December for allegedly “supporting ISIS-K.”
Return to Deterrence Through Enforcement
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has urged Afghan community members to consult an immigration attorney before taking any action, avoid international travel and keep both physical and digital copies of their immigration documents secure. The organisation says it is offering free legal support to those affected and warns that broad immigration freezes targeting Afghans could have serious consequences for families.
What is clear is that Afghans are now at the centre of the United States’ new immigration directives even those who worked for US forces or arrived through legal, scheduled processes. US Citizenship and Immigration Services has stated it is creating a special security-review unit to strengthen the immigration system. The unit will screen the immigration files of “terrorists,” criminal migrants and those posing potential security threats.
Reports from several US states indicate a growing sense of fear and mistrust among Afghan communities. Some individuals have been detained during administrative appointments; families have told local media they lost contact with members after they visited immigration offices; and long-time Afghan residents have received urgent calls ordering them to appear immediately. Cancelled interviews, sudden notices and arrests of people with no criminal history have shaken Afghan communities nationwide.
Reports from Sacramento, New York and other states show rising levels of uncertainty and anxiety. Statements from US officials reveal two opposing perspectives. Congressman Ami Bera of Sacramento has called the situation a form of punishment of all in response to one individual’s actions. The White House, by contrast, insists that national-security considerations allow for no risk.
Human Rights Watch has said the Trump administration’s decision to suspend immigration and asylum processing is discriminatory and targets migrants and asylum-seekers based solely on nationality.
