Trump Administration Considers Sending Vetted Afghan Refugees to Congo Amid Policy Freeze

The Trump administration’s policy decisions continue to strand hundreds of Afghan evacuees more than four years after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Approximately 1,100 Afghans remain in limbo within the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) pipelines, currently housed at Camp As Sayliyah (CAS) in Qatar.

The U.S. Department of State relocated these evacuees to CAS for final vetting before resettlement in the U.S. However, forward movement halted after the Trump administration suspended USRAP via executive order on January 20, 2025, and ended SIV issuance in late 2025. Among those stranded are members of the Afghan National Army Special Operations Command, family members of U.S. military personnel, and 400 children.

The State Department initially offered financial incentives to repatriate evacuees to Afghanistan while exploring alternative host countries before CAS’s planned closure on March 31, 2026. On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that the State Department is now in talks to relocate CAS residents to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This proposed move comes despite the International Rescue Committee ranking Congo at No. 7 in its 2026 assessment of countries at greatest risk of new or worsening humanitarian emergencies. Afghanistan, while also on the list, does not rank within the top 10.

Critics Warn Proposed Relocation Is Not a Resettlement Plan

Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, criticized the plan in a press conference on April 22, 2026. He stated,

"This is not a resettlement plan. Resettlement requires durable legal steps. It requires community infrastructure. It requires a host government that has consented and is equipped to receive. None of those conditions exist in Kinshasa for Afghan families."

Jon Finer, former deputy national security adviser under President Joe Biden, emphasized the vetting rigor of CAS residents during a #AfghanEvac press conference on April 23, 2026. He said,

"The families who are at CAS right now did not show up unvetted. They are, by design and by implementation, the most vetted lawful immigrants to the United States."

Finer described CAS’s original function as honoring a wartime commitment, stating it was "working, rigorous, orderly, and it worked for thousands of vetted Afghan allies and their families during the course of the program." He added that the capacity to resume processing exists, with the only missing component being "a policy decision to go forward."

Finer condemned the proposed relocation, calling it

"a terrible strategy for the United States. It shows us not meeting commitments that we make, which is going to make people less likely to rely on us, to trust us going forward."

Evacuees Express Despair Over Uncertain Future

Residents at CAS have expressed profound dismay over the news. One male USRAP applicant told Reason he felt "confused" and "hopeless" about the potential relocation. Since 2018, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) has been locked in a legal battle with the U.S. government over delays in SIV processing, failing to meet the State Department’s promised nine-month adjudication timeline.

The legal battle intensified following a horrific shooting by an Afghan national on November 26, 2025.