More than 1,000 Afghan allies of the United States and their families are getting a temporary reprieve after the Trump administration agreed to keep a refugee camp in Qatar open for another nine months.
Camp As Sayliyah, a former U.S. military base in Doha, had been scheduled to close Wednesday. The last-minute extension came after months of pressure from veterans groups, refugee advocates and bipartisan lawmakers who warned that shutting down the camp could leave vulnerable families stranded or in danger.
Many of the Afghans at the camp worked alongside U.S. forces during the two-decade war in Afghanistan. At least 150 are relatives of active-duty or recently separated U.S. service members.
“We’re very happy about this nine-month extension,” Shawn VanDiver, president and founder of AfghanEvac, told Scripps News. “We need to see them do the right thing.”
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The camp houses Afghans who were evacuated after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Many expected to eventually resettle in the United States, but Afghan immigration processing was largely halted after a 2025 executive order tied to a security incident involving an Afghan national.
According to AfghanEvac, 1,039 Afghans remain at Camp As Sayliyah today. The organization says 72% are women and children.
“These are military family members,” VanDiver said. “These are families of folks who stood with the United States of America. And every single one of them has earned their shot at the American dream. And now we have a chance to give it to them.”
Advocates say many of the evacuees have already undergone extensive screening by the U.S. government before arriving in Qatar. Multiple DHS Inspector General reports have found the vetting process for Afghan allies was effective.
“The families of our U.S. military service members are not a threat,” VanDiver said. “The women who are at this camp are not a threat. The children who are at this camp are not a threat. Nobody at the camp is a threat.”
The extension comes as the Trump administration prepares to finalize refugee admissions for fiscal year 2027.
Earlier this month, senior administration officials informed Congress that the administration plans to admit 17,500 refugees next year, with many slots expected to go to white South Africans, also known as Afrikaners.
Presidents determine the annual refugee admissions cap and historically distribute those slots across regions based on humanitarian crises and global conflicts.
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Advocates for Afghan allies say they are now urging the administration to include eligible Afghans already waiting at Camp As Sayliyah in the upcoming refugee plan.
“By law, it has to be signed on Thursday,” VanDiver said, referring to the presidential refugee determination. “That gives us an opportunity, now that we have this nine-month extension at CAS, and we know that the vetting works, as every IG report has said, that the president could include all these folks at CAS who are eligible to come here.”
Still, advocates acknowledge the outlook remains uncertain.
Data from the Cato Institute, citing State Department figures through February 2026, show legal immigration from 45 majority-Muslim countries dropped by 96% since December 2024.
Without additional action from the administration, advocates warn many Afghan families could once again face uncertainty when the extension expires next summer.
