Afghan War Allies Were Promised Safety in the US—Until Now
Reveal
The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX
4.7 • 218 Ratings
🗓️ 25 March 2026
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
More To The Story: Back in November, two National Guard members were shot just blocks from the White House. One was killed. The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national who came to the US through a Biden-era humanitarian parole program and had applied for a special immigrant visa, which allows Afghans who worked with the US military to obtain a green card. In the shooting’s aftermath, President Donald Trump halted the visa program and called for a review of all Afghans who have come to the US. Dozens of American organizations have formed in the past decade to help Afghans with the complicated visa application and resettlement process.
Jeff Holder is a pastor with one of them, an organization called Tarjoman Relief that’s made up of military and civilian volunteers. On this week’s More To The Story, Holder talks with host Al Letson about the Afghan allies now in limbo, the extensive vetting process they undergo to come to the US, and what he sees as lies about America’s Afghan communities being told by people in power.
Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Copy editor: Nikki Frick | Digital producer: Artis Curiskis | Deputy executive producer: Taki Telonidis | Executive producer: Brett Myers | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al Letson
Read: Trump Has Turned the National Guard Into Mall Cops. Cost? $1 Million a Day. (Mother Jones)
Listen: How Minneapolis Taught America to Fight Back (Reveal)
Read: Trump is “Basically Shutting Down the Legal Immigration System” (Mother Jones)
Read: Neighbors in Faith (Jeff Holder)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Late last year, two National Guardsmen patrolling Washington, D.C. were shot. |
| 0:06.6 | One was killed. The suspect was an Afghan national. |
| 0:10.4 | We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, |
| 0:17.4 | and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any |
| 0:23.1 | country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country. If they can't love our country, |
| 0:30.1 | we don't want them. I know some of what we're hearing in the news and from this president |
| 0:37.2 | administration is it's just they need to go back, they need to |
| 0:40.6 | pack up, we didn't ask them to come, but we made a promise, Al. |
| 0:45.6 | Coming up on more to the story, one organization works to fulfill a promise made to Afghan allies |
| 0:51.8 | who supported the U.S. military during wartime. |
| 0:55.0 | It's a promise now at risk of being broken under President Trump. |
| 0:59.0 | Stay with us. |
| 1:00.0 | Stay with us. This is more to the story. I'm Al Letson. Immigration, most notably the deportation of immigrants around the country, has been central in President Trump's second term. The administration has deported 675,000 people, |
| 1:31.7 | according to the Department of Homeland Security. |
| 1:34.5 | But after two National Guardsmen were shot in D.C. last year, |
| 1:37.9 | one group of immigrants has come under extra scrutiny, |
| 1:41.5 | people from Afghanistan. |
| 1:43.3 | To be here legally, many of them relied on the Afghan |
| 1:46.5 | Allies Protection Act of 2009, which helped Afghans who served with the U.S. military |
| 1:52.3 | obtain a green card. Over 150,000 Afghan immigrants have been issued the special immigration |
| 1:59.4 | visa known as an SIV, but President Trump paused |
| 2:02.8 | the Afghan SIV program last year and has ordered that it be shut down by April, potentially |
... |
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