Mujib Mehrdad, 40, and his wife, Aria Mushahed, 35, were supposed to be on their honeymoon when Afghanistan collapsed in 2021. Instead of leaving the country for a romantic getaway, they were forced to flee without any of their belongings to escape persecution from the Taliban.

In Afghanistan, Mehrdad was editor in chief of Hasht-e Subh Daily, the most popular newspaper in the country, which received grants from nongovernmental organizations based in the United States. While he didn’t work with the U.S. military directly, his profession opened him up to persecution by the Taliban.

After six months as refugees in Albania, they boarded a flight to Virginia. It was March 2022, and the cherry blossoms were blooming. They were received by U.S. veterans, who presented them with flowers.

“We had a very deep bond with U.S. soldiers when we were in Afghanistan,” Mehrdad told me. “They know us better than politicians.”

Both their son and daughter are U.S. citizens. When their son was born a month and a half ago, Mehrdad immediately applied for his passport, fearing what may come next under the Trump administration.

“The situation is very unpredictable,” Mehrdad said.

The warm welcome Mehrdad received a few years ago is a far cry from the current situation for refugees.

Mehrdad’s fears make sense – although the couple has had their asylum granted and are in the process of applying for their green cards, he said that other Afghan families they know are beginning to receive emails telling them that they will have to leave the United States.

On April 11, President Donald Trump announced that he would not renew temporary protected status for people from Afghanistan, opening them up to the possibility of deportation.

In January, Trump paused the country’s refugee resettlement program indefinitely, plunging thousands of lives into chaos........

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