In 2021, a federal resettlement directive brought more than 1,000 Afghan refugees and immigrants to Washington state, making it one of the top five states to take in people from Afghanistan.
The Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance partners with community-based organizations in Washington state to help in resettlement. ORIA support, however, comes with a five year expiration date, meaning many Afghans who arrived in 2021 will lose eligibility this year for social services they have relied on.
The Refugee Women’s Alliance, a Seattle-based wraparound service for immigrants and refugees, assisted in housing 57 Afghan families during 2021’s mass influx. The Alliance, also known as ReWA, has helped all but one family become stable after coming to the U.S., said senior director of family empowerment Crisann Brooks. As the needs of families changed, ReWA matched demand by providing new types of care, Brooks said, including housing, driver’s licenses, Social Security and use of a kitchen or laundromat during resettlement.
According to Brooks, many of the 57 Afghan families that ReWA placed will lose access to these social services at the five-year mark. While these services are designed to be temporary, this collapse in aid comes alongside a year of federal scrutiny and policy change.
In December 2025, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation restricting entry to the U.S. by people from 12 countries, including Afghanistan. The order, which took effect in January, expanded the Trump administration’s prior legal actions that limited Afghan immigrants and refugees from coming to the U.S. By Jan. 21, all Afghan visas were suspended without exception.
While creating these restrictions, the Trump administration repeatedly cited national security risks that the citizens of regulated countries, including Afghanistan, allegedly pose to the U.S.
When resettlement services end, immigrants and refugees usually initiate the green card or citizenship application process. But according to Brooks, the Trump administration’s policies brought naturalization processes for Afghans to a standstill.
Literacy Source, an adult literacy program in Seattle, provides adult education to immigrants and refugees, along with assistance in applying for citizenship.
“No one’s getting interviews,” co-executive director Cat Howell said. “Really, no one has gotten interviewed since December. And it’s really unclear why people are not.”
For the Washington state branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, heightened federal regulations ushered in challenges for community members and legal advocates alike. CAIR-WA provides grassroots, civil rights advocacy for Muslims in Washington state.
Out of CAIR-WA’s 150 current immigration cases, 80 represent Afghans.
According to CAIR-WA Legal Director Hannah Vickner Hough, these new policies weigh heavily on immigrants and refugees, who are now questioning their place in the U.S.
“Because of the pause, because of the travel ban, and then also the pause on application processing, the individuals that are still experiencing family separation … all of that is on hold,” Vickner Hough said. “The family separation has almost become indefinite.”
A greater number of immigrants and refugees have sought answers through CAIR-WA under these policy changes, according to Vickner Hough, but the organization has little information to provide.
Seattle’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs partners with CAIR-WA through the Rapid Response Program, which provides immediate support during crises. After the Trump administration’s travel bans took effect, CAIR-WA started “Know Your Rights” trainings that focused on civil rights and Muslim culture. Dozens of Afghan community members attended these sessions, Vickner-Hough said, which were offered in Afghanistan’s two major languages, Pashto and Dari.
According to Vickner-Hough, the impacts of the Trump administration are compounded by the five year benchmark for Afghan refugee support.
Federal policy changes have echoed beyond the Afghans who arrived in 2021. In the five years since, the Washington Department of Social and Health Services reports that 13,320 Afghan refugees and immigrants arrived in the state. This population comprises over a quarter of all Washington arrivals during this timeframe.
“Individuals that came during the 2021 to 2022 period, they either have lost or are no longer eligible for any sort of the community support services that existed when they first came to the U.S.,” Vickner Hough said. “That community is relying on each other, but the community supports that existed or just were available, are slowly dwindling away.”
But not all Afghan communities are bracing for the impact of these policy changes.
One Afghan person from Lake City, who immigrated on her own to the United States in March 2024 but requested anonymity due to risk of public scrutiny, said she noticed a storefront display of an Afghan dress and textiles in the Lake City area. The windows belonged to the Refugee Artisan Initiative, an organization supporting refugee and immigrant women in skill development through fiber art.
RAI’s office space includes rooms of sewing benches and a store room full of fabric, along with an instructional English second-language space and a table of vocational resources. Two posters above the table showcase where five RAI artisans have found employment in 2026.
“I’m living so close by here, and I was also crossing [the street] sometimes from here, and I was seeing some Afghani dresses, Afghani carpets here. And I was thinking, ‘whose shop is this?’” the woman said. “I heard from my neighbors, there’s also a community of Afghan people in this neighborhood and we have a lot of families here from Afghanistan, and I heard from my friends that there’s organizations for refugees and immigrants.”
The woman spoke about working with a similar community organization in Afghanistan that supported women and girls in need through economic empowerment.
RAI has offered weekly sewing classes since 2017, introducing ESL and resource navigation training in 2025. RAI began offering digital literary courses this year. Immigrant and refugee employment is the organization’s central goal, but within a safe environment where women can pursue their skills.
RAI currently serves 41 women, with around 25 being Afghan. But RAI’s waitlist, the majority of which are Afghan, stretches to over 322 immigrants and refugees.
RAI’s artisans are not partnered with the organization through ORIA, so their program eligibility will not be impacted. RAI will open their office to the public this summer, drawing on recent funding that expanded their physical office and available resources.
“When I say that every day we are making memories here, I’m telling the truth,” the woman said. “For me, when I see that someone is developing and reaching her goal, that makes me so happy because we are here to support them. When you see the results of your work, it makes you happy.”
