The US State Department has informed Congress that the Coordination for Afghan Relocation and Resettlement Efforts (CARE) office will be closed.
According to documents obtained by Bloomberg, the office’s functions will be transferred to the Afghanistan Affairs Office, and the position of Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconstruction will also be eliminated.
These changes are part of the Trump administration’s broader plan to reduce the federal workforce, which includes reorganizing more than 300 offices by July 1st.
The CARE office, established after the fall of the Afghan government in August 2021 by the Biden administration, has enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress where approximately 180,000 Afghans have been admitted to the US since the withdrawal.
Sean VanDiver, head of the Afghan Evac organization, called this move “a profound betrayal of American values and commitments.
” Previously, several American lawmakers had submitted a proposal asking Donald Trump not to dissolve this office, but the Trump administration continues to restrict immigration to America, with over 110,000 Afghans in Afghanistan and 90,000 in third countries still awaiting visas or resettlement.
