Afghans report being told they can’t apply for special visas to U.S.

Afghans who worked for the U.S. military and government are being told that they cannot apply for special visas to the United States, even though Afghanistan is not among the countries listed in President Donald Trump’s new travel ban, according to advocates for Afghan refugees.

As of Thursday, Afghans seeking to apply for what are known as Special Immigrant Visas were being told by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, the capital, that applications would no longer be accepted, according to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.

Officials at the embassy did not respond immediately to requests for comment. It was unclear if the visa suspension was related to the president’s new ban, which, in addition to denying visas to citizens of six predominantly Muslim countries also orders that the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. be cut by more than half, to 50,000 this year, from 110,000 in 2016.

Shaheen, along with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been a strong advocate of the Special Immigrant Visa program, meant for Afghans who face the threat of reprisal for their work with Americans. Its apparent suspension could affect as many as 10,000 applicants.

“Allowing this program to lapse sends the message to our allies in Afghanistan that the United States has abandoned them,” Shaheen said in a statement.

Officials at the International Refugee Assistance Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York said they had learned that as of Thursday, Afghans were being told that applications were no longer being accepted, though the suspension had taken place on March 1.

“Our worst fears are proving true,” said Betsy Fisher, the group’s policy director.

Mac McEachin, another official at the organization, said the decision could affect the 2,500 soldiers of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division who might be deployed to Syria.

“Now that the world has seen how we turn our backs on our Afghan allies, there is almost no chance that local allies in Syria will be inclined to work with us,” he said.

U.S. military officials are also requesting an increase in troops deployed to Afghanistan.

One of those affected by the shut-off of special visas is Mohammad Nasim Hashimyar, who worked for three years as an interpreter for U.S. Special Forces in Oruzgan province, and later for the U.S. Embassy. He lives in hiding in Kabul as he waits for his visa interview, which now appears unlikely to happen.

“It will force me to go through an illegal way to Europe because my life is in danger in Kabul,” he said. “I always have a gun with me even though I don’t have a license for it.”

Shaheen said she would press Congress to renew the visa program and provide more places for Afghan applicants.

Congress recently reauthorized the Special Immigrant Visa program for another four years but only allocated 1,500 additional visas. Advocates estimate that up to 10,000 are needed. McCain and Shaheen tried unsuccessfully to get Congress to authorize 4,000.

It is unclear whether the reported suspension of new applications was related to the number of available visas or to the president’s order reducing refugee intake generally, or to a combination of the two factors.

Trump’s new travel ban, issued Monday, ordered a 90-day suspension of visas to citizens of six largely Muslim countries: Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Iran, Yemen and Libya. Unlike his earlier order, which was blocked by the courts, it did not include Iraq; there had been complaints that doing so would leave Iraqis who supported U.S. forces vulnerable to reprisals. It also removed an exemption for religious minorities in the affected countries, a provision that had been widely seen as discriminating against Muslims.

Afghanistan was not included in either of the president’s travel bans, but his decision to reduce the overall number of refugees accepted by the United States would affect Afghans as well. Afghans are the second-largest group of refugees worldwide, after Syrians.

With options WASHINGTON — dwindling to stop construction of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, American Indians and their supporters brought their message to President Donald Trump on Friday with rallies outside the White House and his Washington hotel.

Even if the pipeline is completed, the protest movement has been successful because it has called attention to the issue of tribal sovereignty, participants said.

The final, disputed section of the pipeline would pass under a reservoir that provides drinking water to the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux reservations. The tribes and their supporters say the pipeline threatens their religious rights and water supply.

Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, said Texas-based developer Energy Transfer Partners would ultimately pay a price for disregarding the tribes’ religious beliefs.

“We have not lost this battle,” Goldtooth said. “Nothing will ever go right for those corporations. It’s only a matter of time before it will fall flat on its face.”

A federal judge this week declined to halt construction of the final section of the pipeline, meaning oil could begin flowing through it as early as next week. The disputed section would pass under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota. The pipeline stretches from North Dakota to Illinois.

The Obama administration halted construction of the pipeline, but Trump gave it the green light to start again with an executive order. A court hearing in the ongoing legal fight against the pipeline is not expected until at least April.

Hundreds of people participated in Friday’s march, which began at the Army Corps of Engineers headquarters. The agency manages the Missouri River and last month gave Energy Transfer Partners permission to finish the project. Protesters also erected a teepee outside Trump’s hotel.

Mark Charles, a Navajo writer, speaker and activist who lives in Washington, said the activism around the pipeline has drawn new attention to the “dehumanization” of Native Americans.