By Wes Harlan, State Politics Reporter
North State Free Coast Syndicate

Sacramento County has long been home to the largest Afghan population in the United States, with more than 15,000 Afghan immigrants residing here—over twice as many as the next highest county, Alameda, according to the Migration Policy Institute. For decades, Sacramento has offered safety and stability to families fleeing war, Taliban rule, and political chaos. Many of these families settled in northern parts of the county, including North Highlands, Arden-Arcade, and Rancho Cordova, where Afghan-owned grocery stores, restaurants, and mosques now anchor the cultural landscape.

But in recent weeks, growing uncertainty has returned to this community.

New federal actions are signaling a shift in U.S. immigration policy toward Afghan refugees. Letters have begun arriving notifying individuals who were allowed entry under temporary parole programs after the 2021 Kabul withdrawal that their time in the country may be coming to an end. Legal options for appeal are limited, and programs once seen as lifelines are now being quietly rolled back.

This has left many Afghans—including those who assisted U.S. troops during the war—facing the very real prospect of being sent back to a country now under Taliban rule. For some Sacramento families, this also means being permanently separated from loved ones still waiting overseas.

Mohammad Sharafoddin, a refugee in South Carolina, told the Associated Press that he and his wife had hoped to bring their niece to the U.S. to study and build a life. That hope was dashed by a new travel ban that bars Afghan nationals from entering. His story is far from unique. Across the country, families are watching doors close just as they believed stability had been achieved.

The situation is complicated further by global developments. Last week, Russia formalized diplomatic relations with the Taliban government. Pakistan and Afghanistan have resumed talks, mediated by China. These moves are changing Afghanistan’s international posture, even as the United States reconsiders its own.

Critics of the U.S. response argue that America has a moral obligation to protect those who stood with it. Others maintain that temporary programs were never meant to offer permanent resettlement and that border enforcement must remain strong.

What’s clear is that Sacramento’s Afghan community is now living in limbo. Parents are wondering whether their children will have to grow up without relatives who were supposed to follow. Business owners worry about the stability of their customer base. And families fear a return to violence, not just abroad but in their own hearts—having once believed they had finally found peace.

As geopolitical dynamics shift and legal protections vanish, the question becomes not only what will happen to Afghan refugees—but what role Sacramento, and the nation, will play in shaping that future.