Left in limbo, Afghans working with the US military fear that Trump could send them back to the Taliban

Those in the camp struggled to fill their time, resting during the day to avoid the desert heat, and winding roads named after US states to help them learn about what was to be their new home. The school is limited, especially for older students.

Twice in the past year, Iranian strikes have struck near Qatar – once last June in retaliation for US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, and during the US-Israeli war with Iran that began in Feb. 28.

The camp is poorly protected against strikes, said VanDiver, whose group has received many records from residents who were “frightened” by missiles that were blocked over their heads.

Arrivals of Afghan allies to the US had slowed to a crawl as the Trump administration overhauled the US immigration system. But their hopes were dashed again in November when a shooting in Washington killed one member of the National Guard and seriously wounded another.

The suspect, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, is an Afghan national who worked with the US military as part of a high-level CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan. Lakanwal, who pleaded not guilty to nine charges last month, was granted asylum by the Trump administration last year after arriving in the US during the Biden administration.

The Trump administration has imposed stricter restrictions on Afghans after the attack, suspending asylum decisions, halting the issuance of visas to all Afghans, and moving to detain refugees already in the country.

Afghans at Camp As Sayliyah condemned the attack, but said it was the act of one person.

“We want to ask the American government not to associate the crime of one Afghan with all Afghans,” said a woman named Salimi, a lawyer who has been in the camp with her husband and two sons, aged 2 and 4, for more than a year.

Salimi, who asked to be identified only by his last name for security reasons, has been cleared for resettlement in the US because his legal work puts him at risk of persecution by the Taliban.

She had her own law office, mainly representing women who were “poor, who were physically abused, who wanted a divorce.”

Many of her clients’ husbands were members of the Taliban, some of whom had been imprisoned for physical abuse or other crimes, she said.

The night the Taliban returned to power, Salimi said, he received a call from an unknown number.

“You divorced my wife and now you are married to another man and have another life,” said the man on the other side. “You have to pay the price.”

Soon, Salimi learned that the Taliban wanted him. His office was locked, as he focused on staying anonymous and finding a way out.

Salimi was eventually able to apply for an American visa, a process he said took seven or eight months, including security checks.

When he flew to Qatar in January 2025, Salimi believed that his family’s future in the US was finally secured, but Trump’s return to the White House two weeks later upended their plans, the resettlement of refugees was stopped and Afghan citizens were barred from entering the US.

“Facing an uncertain future makes our mind and spirit worse every day,” said Salimi. “What will happen to our future? What will they do to us?”

Women in particular suffered under the Taliban, who barred them from school after the sixth grade, covered their voices and uncovered their faces in public and instituted laws against child rape and forced marriage.

Breaking a promise

The US government’s dealings with Afghan allies and their families has hurt veterans like Lt. Col. Col. Mariah Smith, Retired Army, served three tours in Afghanistan.

Translators like Mohammad were “critical to success,” Smith said, making them “prime targets” for the Taliban and other terrorist groups.

“There was this expectation and promise, like, if you help us, this is a way for you to be able to come to America,” said Smith, vice chairman of No One Left Behind, an Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit that advocates for partners in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“That’s why I think it was very sad for a lot of veterans when we left Afghanistan,” he said, “because a lot of us felt that we had a hand in breaking that promise.”

The treatment of Afghan allies could make people in other conflict zones “not want to work with us,” he added.

Mohammad, who grew up in Kabul, enlisted in the US military in 2009. That year, he was seriously injured in Helmand province when an explosive device exploded, killing a US Marine in front of him.

After recovering, he was sent to Kabul to do non-military translation work. But every day, he said, “the work of just going from home to the office was, you know, life and death.”

The risk was worth it, he said, “because of the value we saw in the international community in Afghanistan,” such as her sisters being able to go to school.

In 2014, he received a Special Immigrant Visa and moved to Texas. He joined the US Army almost immediately as a way to give back to the country that had changed his life.

After completing his service in 2016, Mohammad – now a US citizen – worked as a contractor for the Department of Defense in Afghanistan, until he resigned.

“It just happened, and there was chaos,” said Mohammad, who was in Kabul at the time. “I couldn’t get to the airport, get on the plane, get off.”

With the Taliban now back in power, those with ties to American soldiers and their relatives were targets. Mohammad’s family spent the next three years in hiding, his parents immigrating with four daughters and two sons.

“We couldn’t all be together in one place,” said his father, a history teacher who is also Mohammad, who declined to be fully disclosed for security reasons. “Taliban intelligence has been following us.”

The family moved to Qatar in 2024 after the younger Mohammad heard about a program to help Afghan relatives of American service members. “That was a huge relief for me,” he said.

By the time Trump returned to office, the family had been fully processed and were just waiting for their US visas and plane tickets. “Now we don’t know our fate,” said old Mohammad.

A few months ago, he said, people working in the camp started saying, “Why don’t you go back to Afghanistan? The country is calm and free now.” He said the representative of the Government Department has given money to those who are willing to go back.

Returning would mean certain death, said Mohammad and his family. Her sister Faezeh, 29, is trying to stay positive, and says she hopes “next time Trump will change his mind.”

“Sometimes we think they will force us back. It is a very difficult problem,” he added. “Especially for those of us who have no recourse.”