House Republicans have been advocating for Donald Trump to make an exemption to the sweeping executive order pausing refugee admissions — just not the one he made.
On Friday, the president said the United States should prioritize resettling Afrikaners, despite suspending refugee entry programs. For weeks, Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have been trying to get the president’s attention on different groups of refugees: Afghan allies.
Lawmakers have raised concerns publicly and privately that hundreds of families connected to U.S. military service members in Afghanistan are currently in dangerous limbo. The president’s Day One executive order effectively paused the “Afghan Allies” program, leaving these families at risk of retribution by the Taliban.