© 2026 ABC News

The State Department told ABC News it's committed to the cohort and working to review the safe and effective implementation of the program.

\"We are committed to remaining in communication with the semifinalist group about the status of the program while we review the significant safety, logistical, and programmatic constraints which must be overcome to successfully implement the 2022-23 Fulbright Program,\" a spokesperson told ABC News.

Jami says despite the fact that officials have promised them an update by Dec. 15, she and other semifinalists are pushing for a substantial and positive answer -- \"because just an answer is not enough,\" she said.

\"PHOTO:
Courtesy Maryam Jami
PHOTO: Maryam Jami, 23, a semi-finalist for the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, poses with classmates at her law graduation from Herat University in Dec. 2019.
>

\"They must deem us as an exception, even if they are going to cut ties with the Taliban, cut relations with the Taliban forever because our application is completely pre-Taliban and we have nothing to do with the Taliban government. Not just us but the Afghan youth have nothing to do with the Taliban's government or with the politics, so this is my message to the U.S. government and the U.S. Department of State,\" she said.

\"We really put too much effort into our applications and this program. We rejected most of the immigration offers, lots of other scholarships, just for the Fulbright Program. Because this is a different program. It's obvious from its principle,\" she added.

Principle of the program: 'I belong to Afghanistan'

Jami, who graduated from Herat University with a law degree in 2019 and has worked with international aid organizations on legal and humanitarian needs of refugees, said she was attracted to the Fulbright Program because of its principle to return and work in one's home country after completing studies in the U.S.

\"So this is the time that Afghanistan needs the prospective Fulbright Scholars the most,\" Jami said, taking a serious tone.

\"PHOTO:
Ali Khara/Reuters
PHOTO: Taliban forces sit in the back of a vehicle as they patrol the city center of Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 10, 2021.
>

She believes many of the 100 or so semifinalists have already evacuated the country or went silent due to a lack of hope. Jami told ABC News that she even left the What's App group last month after the conversations shifted from their campaign to continue the program to participants asking advice on how to leave the country -- though has been advised by former coworkers and friends to try and do the same.

\"I belong to Afghanistan,\" Jami said. \"Whether the Taliban are governing Afghanistan or any other government, this homeland is mine and I am committed to serve here, serve its people especially in the time that they need me and people like me the most, and the time they're at the poverty and homelessness is resonating in Afghanistan and people need someone who can help take their hand and we can do something for them.\"

Determined to continue her campaign, Jami still holds out hope for the Fulbright Program so she is ready if the day finally comes that it's her time to interview to become a finalist in the 2022 group.

\"Education cannot wait,\" she told ABC News. \"And education -- and the fate of the Afghan youth -- should not be conditioned to political rivalries or political games.\"

ABC News' Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.

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