Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers Tuesday that the U.S. is still in discussions with several countries to resettle more than 1,000 Afghans who assisted America’s war effort, while he defended the Trump administration’s decision to green-light refugee admissions for tens of thousands of white South Africans. His testimony to Congress comes more than a month after The Associated Press and other outlets reported that war-torn Congo was among the countries where the U.S. was considering sending the 1,100 Afghans and relatives of American service members who have been stranded in Qatar for more than a year. Advocates have said the other option would be for the refugees to go back to Afghanistan, where they face likely reprisal from the Taliban. Democrats on House and Senate committees questioned Rubio during an annual budget hearing about why the U.S. has not followed through on its promise to take in the hundreds of allies who had been rigorously vetted before President Donald Trump signed executive orders in January 2025 that targeted asylum and refugee cases.
“We’re obviously operating right now under a directive that prohibits the entry of Afghans into the United States,” Rubio said. Despite the restrictions, he said officials had been “engaging every single day” on this issue and that several countries have already indicated their willingness to take in some of those waiting in limbo.
