1
00:00:01,966 --> 00:00:03,966
GEOFF BENNETT: When it comes to 
immigration policy, President 
Trump's executive order

2
00:00:03,966 --> 00:00:08,933
suspending all refugee 
admissions into the U.S. has 
far-reaching consequences,

3
00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,000
including for those 
who helped America's 
mission in Afghanistan.

4
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:17,166
Our White House correspondent, 
Laura Barron-Lopez, has more.

5
00:00:17,166 --> 00:00:21,266
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Tens 
of thousands of Afghans, 
including family members 
of active-duty U.S.

6
00:00:21,266 --> 00:00:26,266
military, are now in limbo, 
despite some already receiving 
approval to relocate to the U.S.

7
00:00:27,966 --> 00:00:31,666
Joining me now is Shawn 
VanDiver, founder and 
president of AfghanEvac,

8
00:00:31,666 --> 00:00:34,933
a coalition of 
organizations that works 
to resettle Afghans who

9
00:00:34,933 --> 00:00:38,833
worked with the United States 
prior to the 2021 withdrawal.

10
00:00:38,833 --> 00:00:43,700
Shawn, almost 2,000 
Afghans had already been 
approved to resettle in 
the U.S. before January

11
00:00:43,700 --> 00:00:48,666
27. That was the date the 
executive action was supposed 
to take effect. But, overnight,

12
00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:52,933
the State Department 
canceled all flights, 
canceled processing.

13
00:00:52,933 --> 00:00:57,833
What are you hearing 
from families and people 
who were expecting to 
relocate to the U.S.?

14
00:00:57,833 --> 00:01:00,400
SHAWN VANDIVER, Founder, 
AfghanEvac: Sure. Thank 
you for having me on.

15
00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,033
I want to add some clarity 
to that number. About 
2,000 was the number that 
we expected to travel

16
00:01:06,300 --> 00:01:09,433
over three months, what 
we thought the pause was 
going to be, but it's 
indefinite. So, people are

17
00:01:11,533 --> 00:01:14,733
being pulled off flights now. 
Flights are being canceled, but 
the truth is there are more than

18
00:01:14,733 --> 00:01:19,733
10,000 Afghans who are 
fully vetted, security 
vetted, medically 
cleared, and ready to go.

19
00:01:21,233 --> 00:01:25,166
And now they don't know 
what's coming next. We

20
00:01:25,166 --> 00:01:28,133
have asked the State 
Department to give very 
clear guidance to them,

21
00:01:28,133 --> 00:01:32,400
that we hope they're 
going to do that. They 
haven't affirmatively 
confirmed that yet.

22
00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:37,333
But, look, the truth 
is, is, these people who 
have been waiting for 
3.5 years in many cases

23
00:01:37,333 --> 00:01:42,333
are now stuck in limbo yet 
again. And it feels very much 
like August of 2021. We're

24
00:01:44,333 --> 00:01:46,866
getting frantic text messages. 
People are begging for help. 
My e-mail inbox is just

25
00:01:46,866 --> 00:01:51,833
buzzing over and over and over 
again. My phone is draining so 
fast. And people are terrified.

26
00:01:54,066 --> 00:01:56,100
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: We 
should clarify that the 
president's executive 
action doesn't apply to

27
00:01:56,100 --> 00:02:00,333
Afghans approved for Special 
Immigrant Visas. Those 
are people who worked for

28
00:02:00,333 --> 00:02:04,600
the U.S. armed forces, but 
it will impact thousands of 
others, as you said, Shawn.

29
00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:09,600
And refugee admissions 
were on the upswing in 
recent years, reaching 
around 100,000 in the last

30
00:02:11,966 --> 00:02:15,433
year. But the Trump White 
House argues that the 
U.S. lacks the ability to 
absorb large numbers of

31
00:02:17,766 --> 00:02:21,600
migrants, including refugees, 
without compromising 
resources, safety and 
security for Americans.

32
00:02:23,133 --> 00:02:24,900
What's your response to that?

33
00:02:24,900 --> 00:02:27,033
SHAWN VANDIVER: A 
couple things, right?

34
00:02:27,033 --> 00:02:30,333
So, Special Immigrant Visas are 
not impacted by this. That's 
really important for Afghans

35
00:02:30,333 --> 00:02:35,333
to hear and our advocates 
to hear. The idea that 
the country can't absorb 
these folks is -- like,

36
00:02:37,300 --> 00:02:40,500
I just don't think it's 
real. And what is really

37
00:02:40,500 --> 00:02:45,033
important to note is that USRAP 
is a legal immigration program.

38
00:02:45,033 --> 00:02:47,766
And the vetting that 
people go through to go

39
00:02:47,766 --> 00:02:51,533
through the United 
States Refugee Admissions 
Program is more strict

40
00:02:51,533 --> 00:02:56,500
than police officers are 
vetted or our military or 
any number of folks. Like,

41
00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,700
it is the gold standard 
in vetting. If you're 
coming here as a refugee, 
we know you're safe.

42
00:03:03,766 --> 00:03:06,100
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: President 
Trump has also spoken often 
about the chaotic military

43
00:03:06,100 --> 00:03:10,900
withdrawal from Afghanistan 
in 2021, often blaming 
his predecessor on 
the campaign trail.

44
00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,466
But this action, how does 
it affect the overall 
mission to safely evacuate

45
00:03:17,766 --> 00:03:20,600
and resettle those Afghans 
who helped the U.S.?

46
00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:22,366
SHAWN VANDIVER: Well, 
just like you said,

47
00:03:22,366 --> 00:03:24,233
President Trump talked 
a lot about this on 
the campaign trail.

48
00:03:24,233 --> 00:03:27,800
We are hopeful that because he 
brought it up at every debate,

49
00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,033
they brought it up every day at 
the RNC, he did a much better 
job than President Biden did

50
00:03:32,033 --> 00:03:37,033
of standing by the Abbey 
Gate families. We know 
that he cares deeply 
about Afghans. So we think

51
00:03:39,166 --> 00:03:41,866
this is a mistake. And we know 
that he values loyalty. We also 
know he likes to make a deal.

52
00:03:41,866 --> 00:03:46,233
So we're hopeful that he and 
his administration are ready to 
come to the table and talk about

53
00:03:46,233 --> 00:03:51,233
how we can make a deal to 
protect these loyal folks that 
stood by us for 20 years of war.

54
00:03:53,100 --> 00:03:56,833
These people are family 
of the United States 
active-duty service members in

55
00:03:56,833 --> 00:04:01,800
the U.S. military. They're 
partner forces that trained 
alongside our Green Berets,

56
00:04:03,300 --> 00:04:05,800
that trained, fought, and bled 
alongside our Green Berets.

57
00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,133
These are folks that flew 
in the Afghan air force, 
women who flew in the Afghan

58
00:04:09,133 --> 00:04:12,900
air force. They're judges and 
prosecutors, all sorts of people 
that did everything they could

59
00:04:12,900 --> 00:04:17,033
to stand up for the idea of 
America. And because they 
did that, they are at risk.

60
00:04:17,033 --> 00:04:21,633
And we owe them a debt of 
gratitude and we owe them their 
shot at the American dream.

61
00:04:21,633 --> 00:04:25,833
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: You 
called this a mistake. 
Are you and others 
talking to the Trump White

62
00:04:25,833 --> 00:04:30,833
House about reversing course 
on this or about providing 
an exemption for Afghans?

63
00:04:32,866 --> 00:04:34,666
SHAWN VANDIVER: We have been 
trying to get ahold of them. 
The phones don't work yet,

64
00:04:34,666 --> 00:04:37,800
I don't think. We want 
to work together on 
this. We have worked.

65
00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:42,433
We worked with the Biden 
administration for 3.5 
years. AfghanEvac is 
dedicated -- we're a

66
00:04:42,433 --> 00:04:47,133
nonpartisan organization. If 
you're willing to help Afghans, 
we're here to help. We have the

67
00:04:47,133 --> 00:04:51,500
trust of Afghans. And for good 
reason, Afghans don't trust the 
United States government. We

68
00:04:51,500 --> 00:04:56,500
have got to rebuild that trust. 
And we got to make sure that 
we deliver on our promise.

69
00:04:58,700 --> 00:05:01,666
And President Trump 
signed the deal to close 
us out of Afghanistan. 
We're confident he is

70
00:05:03,766 --> 00:05:05,866
ready to see us through. He 
just has to know the impacts 
of the orders that he signed.

71
00:05:05,866 --> 00:05:10,500
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Shawn, 
I spoke to a service member 
in the Army's 82nd Airborne,

72
00:05:10,500 --> 00:05:15,500
and he told me that his 
sister and her husband 
are still in Afghanistan, 
that they had almost

73
00:05:17,533 --> 00:05:19,733
been done with the process. 
And the only thing that he 
was asking of the government

74
00:05:19,733 --> 00:05:24,466
was to help his family, who he 
said remains in danger and is 
being threatened by the Taliban.

75
00:05:26,633 --> 00:05:29,800
As a veteran yourself, 
what do you say to 
these service members?

76
00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,066
SHAWN VANDIVER: Well, first, I 
have to say that I'm so sorry 
you're experiencing this.

77
00:05:36,100 --> 00:05:39,666
I don't think President Trump 
meant to do this. We hope 
he didn't mean to do this.

78
00:05:41,900 --> 00:05:45,233
It's so important that 
our commander in chief 
stand by members of the 
military. We talked a

79
00:05:47,333 --> 00:05:50,266
lot about lethality during this 
campaign. And it's really hard 
for members of the military

80
00:05:50,266 --> 00:05:54,633
to be ready to serve if 
they're worried about the 
Taliban injuring their parents.

81
00:05:54,633 --> 00:05:57,900
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Shawn 
VanDiver of AfghanEvac, 
thank you for your time.

82
00:05:57,900 --> 00:05:59,266
SHAWN VANDIVER: Thank 
you. Have a great day.