Afghans in California in peril as federal protections evaporate

As American troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban regained control of the country, hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled to the U.S. California housed more of these immigrants than any other state, but they remain imperiled as President Donald Trump’s administration strips away legal protections and support, writes CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff.

Nearly 200,000 Afghans arrived in the U.S. in 2021 under President Joe Biden. California had more than 58,000 Afghan immigrants in 2023, with Sacramento and Alameda counties having the largest populations in the country. 

Many of those arrivals had helped the U.S. government in its 20-year war against Afghanistan, rendering them and their families particularly vulnerable to Taliban retribution. Some Afghan immigrants at the time were granted humanitarian parole while they applied for asylum or visas, and many are still trying to bring over family members located elsewhere. 

But since Trump’s return to the White House, his administration has paused all refugee admissions, including those that were already approved. Trump has also banned Afghan citizens from entering the U.S., and the administration in April said it would not renew deportation protections for Afghan immigrants, which ended July 14.

Trump also canceled foreign aid that funded resettlement agencies in the U.S., and the administration plans to shut down the office that coordinates relocation efforts for Afghans. The federal budget bill passed earlier this month imposes new immigration fees and eliminates access to health care and food benefits for applicants.

Though California’s budget includes $10 million for immigration legal services and the state operates a program supported by federal funding to help Afghan refugees, its resources remain limited. Two bills to establish an agency for immigrant and refugee affairs and expand resettlement services have also stalled in the Legislature.

• A.T., an Afghan asylum seeker: “The Afghans paid a very high price. People lost their loved ones. They lost parts of their bodies. Please do not forget Afghans who fought with you in the war against terror. Whenever you give some final decision about the status, please consider the facts.”

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The nine-member California Catastrophe Response Council — which includes Gov. Gavin Newsom, as well as the state’s treasurer and insurance commissioner — is meeting today in Sacramento to discuss updates about the deadly Eaton Fire that erupted in January. 

In addition to deliberating on the ongoing investigation of the fire’s cause, the council is expected to go over the fire’s potential effect on a $21 billion state wildfire fund, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Lawmakers created the fund after 2018’s Camp Fire to protect utility companies from bankruptcy from future wildfires they cause. Southern California Edison is currently under investigation for the Eaton Fire. Though the probe has not yet concluded, the utility said Wednesday that it plans to launch a compensation program for victims. 

If the utility is found liable, the state wildfire fund could be fully drained to reimburse the company. Insured property losses alone have been estimated to be worth at least $15.2 billion, according to the Times.

Of the 1,736 adults surveyed in the latest Public Policy Institute of California poll released Wednesday evening, 82% say the threat of wildfires in their California region is a problem and 63% say that the state and local governments aren’t doing enough to address wildfires.

At its bimonthly board of trustees meeting Tuesday, California State University said it faces a $164 million budget shortfall for this year, writes CalMatters’ Mikhail Zinshteyn.

This marks the third year in a row that the nation’s largest public four-year university system is unable to fully afford itself. The budget gap, which has grown by $775 million since 2023 to a total of $2.3 billion, does not include the multibillion-dollar maintenance blacklog it needs to fix buildings and carry out repairs.

With its $9 billion operating budget, the costs for Cal State’s labor, energy and education continue to rise. Lawmakers passed a state budget this year that cut the university system’s funding by $144 million. Cal State can take an interest-free loan from the state to make up for the cut, and lawmakers pledged to restore the cut next year.

To mitigate its budget woes, Cal State in the past two years slashed more than 1,200 jobs, reduced student support staff and eliminated 1,400 courses. A 6% increase on annual tuition also began last year, with another 5% increase beginning next fall. 

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