What Trump's travel ban means for Afghans who helped the U.S. fight 20-year war

Here & Now Anytime

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4.1 • 953 Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

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Summary

President Trump signed a proclamation Wednesday to ban nationals of 12 countries from entering the U.S. One of those countries is Afghanistan, where thousands of Afghans helped the U.S. military fight its 20-year war there. Zia Ghafoori, a former interpreter for the U.S. military, and Shawn Van Diver, founder and president of AfghanEvac, a group that helps resettle Afghans, join us. Then, two food distribution sites have reopened in Gaza after violence in the region temporarily shut them down. UNICEF's James Elder joins us from on the ground in Gaza. And, researchers are praising the results of two studies that used immunotherapy to fight one of the most difficult-to-treat types of brain cancer, glioblastoma. We hear from STAT's Angus Chen.

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0:00.0	Support for this podcast comes from Is Business Broken, a podcast from BU's Mayrotra Institute
0:06.2	that explores questions like, why are executives paid so much? Do they deserve it? Listen wherever
0:12.8	you get your podcasts. WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:23.1	It's so disappointed.
0:30.0	It's not just affecting those people that they are overseas, that they could not come to the U.S.
0:35.5	It's also effect on my own families who are living in the United States.
0:37.5	President Trump bans people from 12 countries from entering the U.S.
0:42.0	Travelers from seven other countries face restrictions as well.
0:53.9	It's Thursday, June 5th, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBUR Boston.
1:00.6	I'm Shiko Theuri in for Chris Bentley.
1:04.7	Today on the show, a U.S. and Israeli-backed aid organization is reopening two aid distribution centers after a temporary pause.
1:12.6	This comes after a number of Palestinians have been killed while trying to access vital resources.
1:18.6	Also, some promising news in the fight against cancer.
1:21.6	Researchers say two studies offer new hope that immunotherapy might one day defeat glioblastoma, one of the most
1:28.6	difficult types of brain cancer to treat.
1:31.3	They couldn't believe their eyes.
1:32.7	I mean, one of them told me that there was just this sense of incredible disbelief.
1:37.3	You know, she thought that someone had made a mistake.
1:41.7	But first, come Monday, Afghan citizens won't be allowed to travel into the U.S.
1:47.0	Nationals of 11 other countries, including Haiti and the Republic of Congo, are also banned.
1:53.0	President Trump also issued a partial ban for seven other countries, including Togo and Venezuela.
1:58.0	The White House claims this is necessary to protect the U.S. from terrorist
	...

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