ANAHEIM: Afghans who worked alongside US troops during almost two decades of war were once promised a home in the United States to shelter them from the extremist intolerance of the Taliban. But after two National Guard soldiers were shot — one of them fatally — in Washington last month, allegedly by an Afghan national, their fates have been put on hold, and many are now terrified about what the future might bring.

“Everybody is scared,” a 31-year-old Afghan green card holder said.

“We are scared that we will be judged by people for the crimes committed by one individual from Afghanistan.” West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her wounds after what officials described as an “ambush-style” attack that also left fellow Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, 24, fighting for his life.

The following day President Donald Trump announced he was halting all migration from what he called “third world countries”, including Afghanistan, as his administration announced a review of all residency grants for people from 19 countries — around 1.6 million people, according to a tally. Now Afghans fear they might be sent back to a nation run by the Islamist extremists who they once worked to defeat.

“I made my home in America, now this is my home. If I leave here where I have to go then?” sobbed Maryam. Like all Afghan nationals this news agency spoke to for this story, Maryam did not want to be identified for fear of angering US immigration authorities.

“When I sleep my chest feels very painful, empty,” she said. “I feel like I belong to nowhere.”

The 27-year-old worked on projects for the US embassy in Kabul, where she helped produce education materials that she says cast the Taliban in a bad light.

When the American-led international force was there, her country began to modernise, giving rights to women that their mothers did not have.

“I did education, I had a big dreams for my country, for myself,” she said from her home outside Los Angeles. But in August 2021, the last US troops hurriedly withdrew from Afghanistan as the Taliban ran riot, taking over the institutions that American taxpayers had spent billions of dollars to prop up.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans scrambled to leave the country, terrified that the Islamists would exact revenge on anyone who had helped the West. “It was so difficult to get into the airport,” said Khan, who describes printing out dozens of documents, including proof that his wife was a US citizen living in California.

“There was no water, no food, nothing. And we spent four days in there,” he said. “It was too cold during the night.” Khan, who worked in a university and at a government bank, finally got a plane to Qatar, then on to Germany before being flown to New Jersey, where he underwent two months of background checks and processing.

“We truly thank United States. They helped us a lot to come… and rebuild our life here.”

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2025