SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Thousands of Afghans waiting for asylum say they are now in limbo. The Trump administration has stopped issuing visas to those traveling on Afghan passports and paused all asylum decision in reaction to this week's killing of a National Guard soldier and the wounding of another by an Afghan national. NPR's Diaa Hadid has been speaking to some waiting for asylum and joins us now from Mumbai. Diaa, thanks for being with us.
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: You're welcome, Scott.
SIMON: What have these Afghans been saying to you?
HADID: They've been telling me how distressed they are. These are really dark days for the sub-265,000 Afghans who advocates say were in the pipeline to come to the U.S., like Roshangar (ph). He was in the Afghan military. He used to sign off on airstrikes targeting Taliban fighters. He's now in hiding in Afghanistan in fear of his life, which is why I won't use his full name. But Roshangar told me, Scott, that he was ashamed of the Afghan national behind the Wednesday attack in D.C., and he added this.
ROSHANGAR: It's very frustrating for us because that was that person's responsibility and act. That was not an act from the whole Afghan community.
HADID: And that sense was also echoed by Najib Paiykan (ph). He's 45 and used to be a journalist, and he's now living in hiding in Turkey. He spoke in Dari to producer Fariba Akbari.
NAJIB PAIYKAN: (Speaking Dari).
HADID: And what he's saying there is, what's the difference between a man who punishes every countryman for the crime of one person and the Taliban, who imprison a family for the crimes of one son?
SIMON: Diaa, what can you tell us about Afghans who were in the process to come to the United States?
HADID: Right. Well, most of these people worked and fought alongside U.S. forces or America's allies in Afghanistan, like Roshangar, or they were outspoken critics of the Taliban. But, Scott, this isn't the first time the Trump administration has tried to limit the admission of Afghan nationals. And to folks like Roshangar, that means his life has become more and more perilous. And I noticed that, because as he was chatting with me, he was stuttering. And then he told me why.
ROSHANGAR: I have a teeth problem. I can't go to dentist. My son is out of school for four years. We are living in uncertainty under the Taliban repressive regime.
HADID: Such uncertainty. Another woman, Surayya (ph), who was also in the pipeline to come - when I first got to know her, she was living in Pakistan, getting ready to go to the U.S. But in June, she and her daughters were deported, and now they live under the Taliban, too, where women are banned from most jobs. And her daughters aren't allowed to study beyond grade six. She's also in hiding, which is why I'm not using her full name. And she's one of the hundreds of thousands of Afghans that Pakistan has forcibly deported this year, including people who were meant to go to the United States.
SIMON: The Trump administration says Afghans who entered the U.S. weren't properly vetted. What have you learned by talking to Afghan nationals?
HADID: Well, they say they don't know what the Americans were doing behind the scenes, but someone like Roshangar said his application was in process for three years before Trump suspended it. He'd done three interviews and was scheduled to do a fourth, and he described them to me like this.
ROSHANGAR: So they are asking about my background, about my family members, about my wife, my wife's family, my job, my first job and my second job, my email addresses, my address of livings.
HADID: It was so extensive, and he had to provide that information going back a decade. One prominent advocate, Shawn VanDiver from AfghanEvac, says these migrants are extensively and exhaustively vetted. He says any gaps to the system should be fixed but says one Afghan shooter really don't reflect the vast majority of Afghan migrants who are meant to come to the United States.
SIMON: Diaa Hadid, thanks so much.
HADID: You're welcome, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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