The US State Department stops issuing visas to Afghan collaborators news

Reuters said that a cable issued by the US State Department showed that the administration of President Donald Trump had ordered its diplomats – around the world – to stop issuing visas to Afghan citizens, which effectively means suspending the immigration program for Afghans who helped the United States during its 20-year occupation of their country.

The cable, which was sent the day before yesterday, Friday, to all US diplomatic missions, stated that consular officers were instructed to reject any applications from Afghan citizens for immigrant or other types of visas with immediate effect, including those applying for special immigrant visas.

A former member of an Afghan unit supported by the CIA was accused of shooting two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., one of whom later died.

Yesterday, the US State Department referred Reuters to a statement by Secretary Marco Rubio (Friday) on the

The US State Department cable – which was reported earlier by the New York Times – stated that the step to stop studying visas for Afghan citizens aims to “ascertain the identity of the applicant and his eligibility to obtain a visa under American law.”

A volunteer group (that helps support the United States’ Afghan allies) said that this telegram comes as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent all Afghans from reaching the United States.

“There is no doubt that this is the outcome they have been seeking for months,” Sean Van Dever, head of Afghan Evac, said in an email. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services Administration had already stopped – a few days ago – examining immigration applications for Afghan citizens indefinitely.

Van Dever told Reuters – earlier – that about 200,000 Afghans have entered the United States until 2021 through the refugee and special visa programs, and added that the applications of another 265,000 Afghans outside the United States are still under study, including about 180,000 in the special immigrant visa program for those who worked for the American government.

Since returning to office last January, Trump has given a top priority to immigration enforcement, sending federal agents to major American cities and returning asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border.