Afghan families across the US are increasingly turning to lawyers and community advocates as fears of detention and deportation grow, after sweeping immigration restrictions imposed last November.
Advocates say Afghans have abandoned plans to bring their families from overseas. Instead, their immediate concern is whether they themselves can remain in the US.
The restrictions came after an Afghan man allegedly shot two National Guard members in Washington, killing one of them, a day before the Thanksgiving holiday.
After the attack, the President Donald Trump's administration halted visa processing for all Afghans and paused asylum decisions indefinitely, attributing the shooting to Biden-era immigration vetting failures.
Officials also ordered a broad review and revetting of about 200,000 Afghans resettled in the US since 2021, increasing anxiety across communities, particularly in the Washington metropolitan area, one of the largest centres for Afghan resettlement.
Esmat Gulistani, an Afghan immigrant based in Arlington, Virginia, supports refugee and immigrant employment in the US capital region. As a consultant with Manpower Group, he helped about 16,000 Afghans in the area in 2024.
Mr Gulistani, 43, arrived in the US in 2016 on a special immigrant visa after working with the US government on Afghanistan’s reconstruction efforts.
“I lived the life that refugees and immigrants are going through right now,” he said. “The skills that I learnt at that time are coming very handy in helping and supporting this community.”
Drawing on his own experiences, Mr Gulistani now focuses on spreading awareness and helping immigrant families understand their legal options amid shifting policies.
“The impact was right away,” he said. “Authorities stopped processing immigrant visas for Afghans. All the paperwork that were in process are halted now. It’s a huge setback for the community.”
Mr Gulistani became a US citizen in 2022 but he says anxiety has spread even among green card holders and naturalised citizens.
“We are all concerned,” he said. "But I have to remain unperturbed, because I'm a person advocating for other immigrants.
"Every day you watch the news, there is a new policy being signed or being enforced that is directly impacting the community of Afghans."
Mr Gulistani said the greatest concern is among parolees and others with temporary protection.
“They are seeking legal help as those cases are completely halted right now," he said.
Mr Gulistani said some Afghan families have received letters from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and have been summoned to its offices to have their cases reviewed.
“Some families that were reviewed were later released and they were told that they had been paroled for another year or two,” he said.
“However, there have been cases where ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] detained a family member and released the rest of the family. So, we don’t know what the vetting process is like and who they are looking for."
The revetting process has increased fears and altered daily life for many Afghans, he said.
“People are anxious when they go in, they might not be released by ICE," he said. "They think twice before going to work, going to school or doing daily chores."
Mr Gulistani says his role now involves calming fears, sharing information and helping families prepare for what may come next.
“You can’t actually fight against a policy,” he said. “The message is that we don’t have to run, we don’t have to fight back. We have to remain calm and find alternatives and build a plan. Get your lawyers to work on your behalf.”
Those who helped the US military in Afghanistan are terrified to return home, fearing retribution from the Taliban. However, Mr Gulistani expressed optimism.
"I hope that the Taliban regime welcomes Afghans back home and supports them," he said, adding that those who were deported in the past year from Pakistan and other neighbouring countries were well received by the Taliban government.
"I know that the situation is slightly different for Afghans in the US, but I hope that they will be given the same welcome and that they will be provided with the same resources and the chance to rebuild their lives."
Looking ahead, he urges Afghans to focus on resilience rather than panic.
“I encourage people to go to work, to go to school and do their activities like they normally did," Mr Gulistani said. "If something happens, stay calm and work with authorities.”
He also had a message for US policymakers.
“It's unfair to collectively punish a community for an individual’s mistake,” he said. “Afghans are US allies, after all.”
