Asmaan is a staff member with Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC), working in the refugee resettlement department. She has some experience when it comes to leaving your home country for another: In 2014, Asmaan came to the United States from Afghanistan as a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holder.
She began her career in Afghanistan, serving as a public prosecutor with the Counter Narcotics Criminal Justice Taskforce (CJTF), a program funded and supported by the U.S. government. Asmaan’s husband’s work was also affiliated with the American government and involved implementing U.S.-funded health projects throughout Afghanistan.
Initially, these roles provided significant opportunities for both Asmaan and her husband. However, since the Taliban retook the country in 2021, her previous affiliation with the U.S. government has made it too dangerous for her to return to visit her family.
That same year, Asmaan’s parents, her brother, and his family of seven were forced to flee the U.S. embassy in Kabul and settle in neighboring Pakistan. They had been living in Kabul as a part of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, but could no longer remain safe with the Taliban back in control.
But there was still hope: Asmaan’s family were still able to go through the exhausting vetting process while in Pakistan; a process that includes multiple interviews, security checks, medical exams, and reviews by multiple government agencies that all refugees must undergo.
Refugee resettlement has always been a complex, multifaceted, and lengthy process. As is the case with Asmaan’s family, refugees are fully vetted by the State Department in coordination with multiple U.S. security agencies, in a process that often takes multiple years.
Since 2010, CCC has partnered with communities to help the people engaged in this process to resettle in the U.S. with dignity. This includes initial housing placement, case management, school enrollment and follow-up, health and language support, education and employment services, and a stipend to help cover living expenses in the first 90 days after arrival.
Four years later, in 2025, Asmaan’s family were finally approved for resettlement. In fact, their flight arrangements were already made and Asmaan was looking forward to finally seeing her family for the first time in seven years.
Unfortunately, that was not to be.
Upon taking office in January, the Trump Administration immediately cancelled numerous refugee flights, including the one Asmaan’s family was scheduled to take. They slashed existing budgets, closed offices, fired staff, and continued spreading rhetoric dehumanizing both refugees and immigrants.
Since the flight’s cancellation, the circumstances surrounding Asmaan’s family have grown progressively worse. Not only are they unable to travel back to Afghanistan for fear of reprisals from the government, but they now face violence and potential deportation at the hands of Pakistani security forces as well.
As both a professional working in refugee resettlement and daughter and sister worried about her family, Asmaan is at a loss for what to do next.
And she isn’t the only one.
CCC has another client who is currently stranded in Dubai following a personal trip. With all the uncertainty surrounding refugee and immigration policy, this client may now be barred from returning to the U.S., separated from his family.
Similar heartbreaking stories continue to crop up and additional individuals and families are paying the price for arbitrary policy changes and indiscriminate budget cuts at the federal level.
And these sudden changes are directly impacting the clients CCC has served for decades.
Latin American refugee clients have been reluctant to attend events out of fear of potential arrest. Even though they have been assured they have legal status, they still are uncomfortable with the risk of federal intervention by groups like ICE.
ESL class attendance has plummeted. Fear is keeping many refugees, especially CCC’s Spanish-speaking clients, in their homes. Some fear seeking additional employment or public benefits. Others fear sending their children to school. Uncertainty is a fact of daily life and social isolation is becoming increasingly prevalent.
And without critical program funding that CCC has used to keep the refugee community updated, misinformation has spread and incorrect rumors about CCC’s closure have proliferated.
CCC has also been forced to completely close two immigrant-serving programs that specifically support unaccompanied children. Staff have been laid off and plans for a new office have been abandoned.
While CCC continues to do everything it can to carry out the critical, mission-driven work that has helped successfully resettle so many refugees across the Commonwealth, the reality faced by people like Asmaan is a painful reminder of how thoughtless decisions made by some at the federal level can have devastating consequences on the organizations, the families, and the people who call our community home.