Federal court orders US to resume Afghan refugee resettlement for select group

Federal court orders US to resume Afghan refugee resettlement for select group

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to resume the resettlement process for a limited group of Afghan refugees who had previously been cleared for relocation to the United States but were left stranded after the government abruptly paused the program earlier this year.

The ruling, issued Monday, requires the government to move forward with the cases of Afghans who had received travel documents before Jan. 20, 2025, and who had made significant life decisions based on US assurances — including selling homes, quitting jobs, or relocating to third countries while awaiting final approval.

The decision comes in response to a lawsuit filed by AfghanEvac, an advocacy group representing Afghans who supported US operations during the two-decade war and were promised refuge in return. Among those affected are hundreds who remain in limbo at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, where they have been awaiting transportation to the United States for months.

“These individuals followed every directive from the US government in good faith and gave up everything in the hope of finding safety,” AfghanEvac said in a statement. The group welcomed the court’s decision as “a step in the right direction” but warned that “lives remain at risk” and called for the ruling to be implemented “swiftly, fairly and transparently.”

The court order does not apply to all Afghan applicants but is limited to those with prior conditional approval and documented reliance on the US relocation process. The ruling also pushes back against the administration’s use of a January executive order that sharply curtailed refugee admissions, effectively stalling the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), including for Afghans who had served alongside American troops.

“We are grateful the court rejected the government’s effort to use a new travel directive as a backdoor to block refugee admissions, including those of our Afghan allies,” AfghanEvac said. “This decision affirms what we have long known — those who passed the most rigorous vetting processes deserve protection, not political neglect.”

The organization urged the administration to respond with “urgency and moral clarity.”

Tens of thousands of Afghans who had applied through USRAP were affected by the sudden halt earlier this year. Many had already been approved for travel, received tickets, and were preparing to board flights when the program was suspended — prompting criticism from veterans’ groups and refugee advocates.

Though the court’s ruling offers a path forward for a subset of those cases, the majority of applicants remain in uncertainty. Legal advocates have warned that delays and political pressure continue to undermine US obligations to its wartime allies.

“This is a meaningful step,” Afghan Evac said, “but it cannot be the last.”