Good morning. Washington is still talking about the follow-up boat strike in the Caribbean. My colleagues have uncovered more details about the plans the military has in place to handle survivors. And the Trump administration has gutted a Biden-era climate policy meant to promote electric cars. He’s pushing the industry back toward gasoline. I’d like to start today, though, in Phoenix, where many Afghans are wondering whether they will face deportation after the shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., an attack the authorities say was carried out by a 29-year-old Afghan man. The administration wants more vetting. Now the migrants are anxious and afraid.
Collective blameMirwais Daudzai, a 31-year-old Afghan refugee, is one example. For the past two years he’s worked at the Phoenix airport, writes Miriam Jordan, an immigration reporter. If you’re a traveler who needs a wheelchair, he’s the guy who helps you at the start or end of your journey, who gets you onto the plane or down to baggage claim. When travelers learn Daudzai fled to the United States from his native Afghanistan, many tell him they are glad he is safe here. Some slide him a tip. That changed after the attack in Washington, during which officials said an Afghan national used a .357 revolver to shoot two members of the West Virginia National Guard, killing one of them. Daudzai experiences hostility now, he told Miriam, the first he’s encountered since coming to the United States. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, one passenger pulled back a $20 bill when she learned Daudzai was from Afghanistan. “Before this problem, I’m so happy and relaxed in this country,” he said. “I have a job, I’m safe, I have no enemies.” Which may well be true. Daudzai and his wife both have green card applications. But President Trump has told his administration to suspend all Afghan immigration cases and has said the administration will “re-examine every single” Afghan who came to the United States during the Biden presidency. He said last week that “many of these people are criminals, many of these people are people that shouldn’t be here.” Now his administration will deport anyone “who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.” “People are looking at all Afghans as terrorists,” Daudzai told Miriam. ‘Fear is following us’What a thing that must be to experience. You’re a member of a group — a nationality, a race, a political party, a denomination — and another member of that group does a terrible, heinous thing. You’ve been building a life, or living a life, one that is stable and productive. Then suddenly you find yourself painted with the same tar, and wearing the same feathers, as the person who is suspected of doing the appalling thing. As part of her reporting, Miriam joined a group of Afghans at the Arizona Refugee Center, a nonprofit organization in Mesa, outside Phoenix. There she met Obaidullah Durani. He’s a former Afghan fighter pilot trained by the United States. He was with his two young children. During the evacuation of Kabul in 2021, his youngest was one of several infants lifted over a fence by Marines during the desperate rush to board military planes. Durani’s wife was separated from them in the chaos. She remains in Afghanistan, waiting for approval to join her family. In Phoenix, Durani and his children are scheduled for a green card interview this month. Durani had come to the center to ask if that interview was still going to happen. If it did happen, he wanted to know, could the family be detained? Could they be deported?
Durani is but one of about 200,000 Afghans who were once considered wartime allies of the United States and admitted to the country after Kabul’s fall. Many underwent extensive vetting before being welcomed here, American officials told The Times. They were resettled in communities across the nation, including Phoenix. There they set out to build new lives. Another man Miriam encountered at the center was Hekmatullah, who asked that he be identified only by his given name to protect relatives back in Afghanistan. He too works at the airport, and he too is scared about the escalated immigration crackdown that has followed last month’s shooting. His children are thriving. They speak perfect English. What will happen to their asylum case? Hekmatullah spoke about Afghanistan, and his family’s uncertain future. “We left because of fear,” he told Miriam. “Now fear is following us.” Read about how the attack is rippling through Afghan communities. Related: The suspect showed signs of erratic behavior for about two years, according to someone who worked with his family. Here’s what we know about his life.
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