SENATE JUDICIARY STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
Before the Senate Judiciary Committee
Crime & Counterterrorism and Immigration & Border Subcommittees
January 14th, 2025
Afghans For A Better Tomorrow is a national, grassroots community-led advocacy organization that organizes the Afghan-American community to bring about systematic change so Afghans can live lives of dignity, freedom and prosperity. Our founding came out of the crisis moments: the summer of 2021 and the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Anticipating a crisis, we gathered and eventually started leading rapid response coordination and evacuation efforts for at-risk Afghans as the Taliban took over Afghanistan. Now, our organization has hubs in California and the New York metropolitan region and has hundreds of members. Our members are working-class, newly arrived Afghans, often without permanent legal protections seeking a safe and dignified life in the U.S.
A debt owed
While horrified by the tragic violence committed on November 26th, Afghans For A Better Tomorrow and our community are now facing the consequences of a racial and bigoted scapegoating by President Trump and his administration. This serves as collective punishment of the Afghan-American and Afghan refugee community. Rather than uphold the promises made to Afghans over the course of twenty years, this will ensure harm, betrayal and deep suffering for many Afghans who stood alongside the U.S. Others fled political persecution, conflict and the aftermath of America’s lost war in Afghanistan. While our politics and news cycles move fast, nothing changes the fact that America is partially responsible for the danger Afghans faced and fled from in Afghanistan, a fact that is reiterated by both sides of the aisle. America still holds the moral obligation to relocate, welcome and support Afghans in need of safety. While American involvement in the war has ended, what is owed to those who supported the mission is still a deep debt to Afghans in need of safety.
Trusted, known and patriotic
During the Cold War, President Reagan saluted “the people of Afghanistan” and called them “a nation of heroes.” In 1982, he issued Proclamation 4908 to declare March 21 Afghanistan Day. He dedicated the launch of the space shuttle Columbia to the Afghan people” and later went on to compare Afghans “the moral equivalents of America’s founding fathers.” That is why today’s policies that bar all Afghans from entering the United States while subjecting those already here to detention and fear is unjust and stands in stark contrast to the warm relationship of Afghans and Americans.
It is clear that attempts to talk up a need for “vetting” is a bad-faith attempt to capitalize on and exploit a tragedy to further anti-Afghan, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. We not only renounce the violence of November 28th but reject this attempt at division and cruel bigotry. Our organization and our community has collectively welcomed 200,000 plus newly arrived Afghans to the United States. While we often come across a community deeply traumatized by displacement, we feel the intense gratitude, joy and resilience of a people forced to leave their homeland. Afghans not only have since their relocation become newly arrived refugees; they are often pillars of their community. They are the backbone that make America run. They are your IT guys, rideshare drivers, teachers, nurses and food delivery people. They are close friends with American veterans of the Afghan war, regulars at interfaith services and leaders in the Afghan-American community. Often, they are still strong believers in the American dream. But these new policies do not make our neighborhoods and communities safer. It is pushing Afghans seeking permanent protections into the shadows and ensuring they live not in dignity, but petrified and fearful of what comes next. Below, we are sharing a testimony from an Afghan man seeking asylum who is asking for anonymity due to fear of retaliation.
“During the first Taliban reign, my father was assassinated by the Taliban, because he opposed them vocally and because he was a Shia Muslim. During the US presence, I was a civil engineer in Afghanistan, working on major infrastructure projects, funded by USAID and the Federal Aviation Administration. I helped build roads, airports, and public works that supported both Afghans and were used by American servicemen and diplomats. My work helped to keep them safe and focused on their mission. My work, religious sect and association with the US had made my family and I a target of the Taliban.
After resettling, I rebuilt my career from the ground up. I studied, received certifications and now work as a senior staff engineer and government contractor, serving as an inspector on public projects. My work directly supports safety, accountability, and the integrity of taxpayer-funded infrastructure.
My daughters are in college—one attending a prestigious DC-area school on a full scholarship and aspiring to attend medical school—while my younger children attend local public schools. My son is a rising star in his local league. My daughters are leaders and have advocated for women’s rights alongside Malala and Angelina Jolie. Like so many families, our focus is simple: contribute, work hard, and give back to both our family and my community. All we ask is for safety, dignity and permanent protections.”
Additionally, we’re sharing additional testimony from a young Afghan woman, a Special Immigrant Visa recipient, who is asking for anonymity due to fear of retaliation.
I graduated from school in Afghanistan and worked for four years on the USAID-funded Promote Project as a field data collector, supporting women and local communities. I also worked there as a receptionist, where I learned responsibility, organization, and how to serve people with care and respect.
I came to the United States in September of 2022. When I came to the United States, I arrived with basic English and little familiarity with how life works here. Everything was new—the language, the systems, and the culture. Despite the challenges, I was determined to learn and move forward. I worked hard to improve my English, and my first job in the U.S. was as a gift wrapper. It may seem small, but it gave me confidence and reminded me that every beginning matters.
My dream has always been to become a nurse, and that dream motivated me to seek an opportunity in a hospital. Even without prior medical experience in the U.S., I began working as a nurse technician. I showed up every day ready to learn, to work hard, and to care for patients with dignity. Within my first three months, I received a commendation letter from my supervisor’s supervisor recognizing my exceptional work. This was an acknowledgment that confirmed I was on the right path.
After moving to California, I settled in the Sacramento area. I am currently completing a fellowship, where my project was selected among 24 participants, while also working on another fellowship and community project. I have received an offer to serve as a board member of a local organization in Sacramento, and I am currently working as a medical administrative professional at a clinic. I plan to return to school as a student next year to continue pursuing my goals.
Alongside all of this, I am caring for my parents and supporting my family, responsibilities that give my journey even deeper meaning.
Today, I live in Elk Grove, California. My life has been shaped by resilience, hard work, and opportunity. My story reflects the strength of everyday Afghans who rebuild, contribute, and give back. I am proud to call California home and grateful for the chance to serve my community.
A pre-existing extremist hateful agenda
Lastly, what has been clear is that the Trump administration is using this tragedy to pivot quickly and to justify an existing policy that is hateful, bigoted and extremist in nature. Prior to the shooting, the administration had already moved to announce a “re-vetting of Biden era refugees,” then went on to announce decisions that halted, paused or entirely banned Afghans and other immigrants from 18 different countries. Prior to this, the administration had already moved towards implementing its anti-immigrant agenda. First, a refugee ban that halted legal pathways for Afghans to enter the country in January of this year. Then, on June 4th, the administration moved to ban migration and entry from 19 countries, including Afghanistan. Only a small carve-out was made for those with Special Immigrant Visas. The new policies announced in the wake of November 26th are merely a continuation of a pre-existing, hateful agenda that demonizes and unfairly targets the entire Afghan community as well as other immigrants.
We also note that immigration enforcement is actively profiling and targeting Afghan nationals and indiscriminately surveilling and detaining Afghans. We have actively tracked close to 70 detentions since November 28th of 2025. Some of these detentions are actively being challenged in federal court, where the government is unable and unwilling to admit the truth: that the administration is targeting Afghans in retaliation, rather than as an attempt to keep the country and our communities safe. Our community now lives in fear, petrified of being snatched off the streets or taken away and separated from their family at an immigration hearing or ICE check-in.
We urge the Subcommittees to stand loudly and boldly against these policies that maliciously hurt entire communities. The bigoted policies aimed at our communities must be halted and the hate spewed at us must be countered with allyship and solidarity for our Afghan allies and our newly arrived neighbors who deserve protections, safety, dignity and a country in which they can prosper.