Refugees and activists are alarmed about a reported effort by the federal government to begin interviewing hundreds of Afghans in the U.S., fearing sensitive information gathered by immigration officials will be used to fuel future deportations.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement is reportedly seeking to interview roughly 800 Afghans brought to the U.S. for what the agency called a “wellbeing initiative” focused on assessing “common challenges” among Afghan refugees who may be in “vulnerable situations.”
The alleged effort, according to a July 14 email to ORR staff obtained by The Washington Post, includes asking respondents about their identities, assimilation into American culture and the immigration status of each member of their household. The questionnaire also reportedly includes a notice that answers are not anonymous and information shared with interviewers could be retained for 15 years.
The survey calls have likely already begun, one activist group told The Independent.
The interviews may have started as early as this Thursday, according to Shawn VanDiver, founder of the advocacy group #AfghanEvac. It remains unclear how the information would be used, prompting concern among advocacy groups given the vulnerable status of Afghan immigrants in the U.S.
“There’s no good reason for them to be doing this,” VanDiver told The Independent. “They don’t care about the welfare of Afghans. … Everything that this administration has done with them has been to cause harm, has been to throw them out of the country.”
“This is a group that has seen nearly every pathway closed to them, and holds dwindling hope for reuniting with their families,” Beth Oppenheim, CEO of the refugee advocacy group HIAS, told The Independent in a statement.
“Every moment for them is fraught with uncertainty, and the potential for even more fear as a result,” she added. “We want everyone we welcome into this country to feel safe, and we need to remember the distrust that closed doors and blocked pathways create for people when we ask them to be vulnerable again and again.”
VanDiver added that he has been hearing from sources within the administration that the interview program has “nefarious” intentions.
ORR, which operates under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., “is strengthening its efforts to ensure that the populations it serves receive the services funded by American taxpayers,” the Administration for Children and Families told The Independent in a statement.
“The agency is actively conducting outreach to connect eligible individuals with ORR-funded services and will continue those efforts for the duration of their eligibility,” the agency said.
The agency added that ORR “works closely with its federal law enforcement partners” and is required by law to share information “regarding individuals involved in suspected criminal activity.”
The Independent has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Advocates have repeatedly voiced concern about Donald Trump’s record towards Afghans so far.
Over the last year-and-a-half, the administration has frozen refugee resettlement from most countries, stripped Afghan refugees in the U.S. of emergency protected status, paused new visas for Afghans and banned travel from Afghanistan to the U.S.
The White House has also left more than 1,000 people in limbo at a refugee center in Qatar. The group was originally taken there under the Biden administration after the fall of Kabul in 2021 as part of his effort to resettle Afghans who partnered with U.S. forces.
The administration has floated a plan to send the people there to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Kinshasa won’t kill him on Day One, but the State Department knows there’s no community for him there, no legal status, and no real protection for him or for the children traveling with these families,” retired U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Sean Jamshid, whose brother was being held at the center, told reporters in April. “They know they are offering him an option they know will be refused, just so they can say they tried. This is not a real choice. This is not policy. This is theater.”
Advocates have also accused the Trump administration of mistreating those already in detention.
In March, Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, who fought alongside U.S special forces, died within one day of entering Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention. The death was caused by an adverse drug reaction to an unidentified substance, according to his death certificate.
“We do not understand. What kind of accident takes a healthy 41-year-old man who was in the care of the United States government? We have so many questions, and almost no answers,” his family said in a statement after the death. “Nazeer was a person. He was loved. He still is. He deserved more than a single word.”
Late last year, reports emerged that the Trump administration was planning to re-interview and potentially revoke the status of hundreds of thousands of refugees admitted to the U.S. during the Biden administration.
A November memo signed by Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, orders the agency to review and re-interview all of the roughly 233,000 refugees who were admitted to the country between January 20, 2021, and February 20, 2025, and blocks processing of green card applications from refugees admitted during that time period.
This story was updated on July 24, 2026, to feature the correct spelling of #AfghanEvac founder Shawn VanDiver’s name.
