#CountThemIn · National Campaign
Campaign closed · October 2026The country said count them in. The administration said no.
On September 25, 2026, the President signed the refugee admissions determination for Fiscal Year 2027. It sets a historically low ceiling of 17,500 and directs those places primarily to Afrikaners from South Africa. The Afghans who served the United States were left out.
Presidential Determination No. 2026-24. Publishes in the Federal Register on October 2, 2026.
What happened
Vetted allies were told they do not count
The FY2027 determination caps refugee admissions at 17,500, one of the lowest numbers in the history of the U.S. refugee program, and specifies that those admissions “shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa.” It does not count in the Afghans who worked alongside American troops, diplomats, and development teams, who passed our vetting, and who earned their place.
Processing is still frozen. Families are still separated. People who kept their word to the United States are being told, in a signed federal document, that there is no room for them, while room is made for others.
What this campaign proved
The country is with our allies. So was the Congress.
This campaign did what advocacy is supposed to do. It made the public will visible, and it put it in front of the people who hold the pen. The failure here is not the movement’s. It belongs to the administration that chose not to listen.
The public is with us, across party lines
In a bipartisan national survey by Lake Research Partners and The Tarrance Group, 84% of voters said the United States should keep its commitments to Afghan allies, and support for admitting the Afghans who served reached 71%. Support crossed every party. See the full polling →
Congress heard it, coast to coast
#CountThemIn drove more than 3,800 letters into 407 congressional offices, in 48 states and the District of Columbia, from leadership on down, and in almost equal numbers to Democrats and Republicans. This was a national demand, not a partisan one.
Every member of the committee of jurisdiction heard it, on both sides of the aisle
At the September 23 refugee consultation, Senators Alex Padilla and Dick Durbin pressed the administration directly on Afghan allies. They were not speaking into a vacuum. All 22 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel that holds that consultation, heard from constituents, including Chair Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member Durbin, and every Republican on the committee. Not one of them can say the case was never made.
The administration didn’t listen
Two days later, on September 25, the President signed a determination that left our allies out. The public said one thing. The administration did another.
Where we go from here
A determination is not the end of the story
A low ceiling does not erase a promise, and it does not stop this coalition. AfghanEvac will keep the record straight, keep the litigation and the casework moving, and keep the pressure on for the next determination and every decision in between. The commitment a generation of Americans made in good faith stands, whether or not this administration honors it.
Thank you to everyone who wrote, shared, called, and chipped in. You did your part. We are not done.
Our statement · October 2, 2026
Statement from AfghanEvac on the FY2027 determination
Shawn VanDiver, President of AfghanEvac
The President signed the Fiscal Year 2027 Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions on September 25. It sets the ceiling at 17,500 and directs that admissions go primarily to Afrikaners from South Africa. It does not include a single word about the Afghans who fought, bled, and served alongside American troops for twenty years.
That silence is a choice, and it is the wrong one. Americans in every corner of the country have sent more than 3,800 letters to Congress through AfghanEvac’s Count Them In campaign asking for a modest, achievable commitment: at least 5,000 places for Afghan mission partners and the families of U.S. service members. That ask stands. Seventeen thousand five hundred places leave ample room to keep it.
“Primarily” does not mean “exclusively.” The determination preserves the national interest exception under Executive Order 14163, and the administration has already shown that the path works. Last week, two Afghans arrived through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program on an exception to policy. AfghanEvac thanks President Trump, Secretary Rubio, Secretary Mullin, and the officials who made that decision. That family is as deserving as anyone, and they deserve a warm welcome in their new community.
Now make the exception the rule. The same authority should be applied to every eligible Afghan, including nearly 3,000 family members of U.S. service members, family reunification cases, Afghans waiting at Camp As Sayliyah, those facing deportation from Pakistan, and the partnered units Secretary Mullin’s own team has identified as a priority. Refugee exceptions do not reach Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and AfghanEvac believes those allies must have a path as well.
The administration told Congress it cannot trust vetting conducted under the prior administration. That claim does not hold up. Afghan vetting was built on procedures from President Trump’s first term, strengthened since, and reviewed by independent oversight. The answer to any doubt is to vet again, not to leave allies behind.
AfghanEvac thanks Senator Padilla, Senator Durbin, and Representative Raskin, and their staffs, for standing up for Afghan allies during consultations. We call on every Member of Congress to ask the administration one direct question and insist on an answer: how many Afghans will be admitted under this ceiling in Fiscal Year 2027?
These allies kept their promise to America. This determination gives the administration a year to keep ours.
Stay in the fight.
The campaign is closed. The work is not. Here is how to keep it moving.
#CountThemIn · #AfghanEvac · #StillWithUS