9 May 8th-May 14th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | children alongside theirs.” Since then, the 90 days of Trump’s pause have passed. A federal court has ordered him to admit at least some refu- gees. Nothing has changed. Responding to an inquiry from Phoenix New Times, the State Department said, “The Department is actively considering the future of our Afghan relocation program and the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE). At this time, no final decisions have been made.” For many Afghans in Arizona, a continued separation from their loved ones isn’t even the worst thing that might come of a Trump presidency. If you haven’t noticed, the Trump administration has been deporting immigrants left and right, and not always with a solid legal basis for doing so. On April 11, the Department of Homeland Security emailed Afghans with temporary protected status who are legally in the U.S. to inform them that their legal status had been revoked and that they must self-deport or risk being targeted by law enforcement. That doesn’t apply to Mansoory or Olumi — they have permanent legal residency and citizenship, respectively — but it applies to people they know. And who knows when the Trump administration will attempt to go after them, permanent status be damned. “I don’t feel safe with the Trump administration starting to deport people,” Mansoory said. “Being a refugee far from my family and with no support system only makes it harder.” Olumi’s son-in-law is a green card holder like Mansoory, and their family is hoping to travel abroad in the coming months. Those plans are tinged with fear. Her immediate family is all here legally, but the administration has been singling out legal residents with no concern for due process, drawing rebukes (that it has ignored) from federal judges and the Supreme Court. “I’m worried about my son-in-law. Even though he came here legally, he could potentially get stuck while we go abroad to visit family,” Olumi said. “Something as joyous as a family reunion now has all of us worried. He has a green card and yet we’re still scared that won’t be enough.” It certainly seems like things will get worse for Afghan refugees — inside and outside the U.S. — before they get better. A leaked draft from the State Department shows the administration is considering a full-blown travel ban targeting 43 coun- tries, including Afghanistan. Arash Azizzada, the executive director of the organization Afghans for A Better Tomorrow, says the ideology undergirding it all is white supremacy. “It’s about ensuring that no more black or brown people or no more Afghans, no more Muslims are able to enter the country,” he said. “They’re trying their best to get many folks who have been newly arrived in the past few years to deport themselves or to push them out of the country with really restrictive and fascist- like policies.” If that’s the administration’s goal — to not let any more refugees in, and to get the ones who are here out — it lays bare a sick- ening irony for those with family still in Afghanistan. After months and sometimes years of hoping to see their families again, the most realistic avenue to such a reunion is also a horrifying one: Being sent back to Afghanistan, the country they tried so hard to escape. “Being sent back would mean losing everything I’ve worked so hard to rebuild,” said Mansoory, who would face mortal danger if she returned. “It would mean returning to a place where my safety is at risk, where my dreams, education, and future would be stripped away. Going back isn’t just a relocation — it’s a return to fear, instability, and silence.” After so much sacrifice — leaving home and family, a parting that has lasted agonizing years — it would feel, she said, “like being erased.” Homaira Olumi (center) holds her daughter while sitting next to her sister (left) during a trip to Pakistan in the 1990s. (Courtesy of Homaira Olumi) A World Away from p 8
