The Trump administration is moving forward with its decision, forecasted last month, to not renew temporary protected status (TPS) for thousands of Afghans who fled the country after August 2021 when its U.S.-backed government collapsed following the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
The Biden administration designated Afghans as eligible for TPS, which grants certain protections from deportation to individuals from countries experiencing conflict or other serious turmoil, in May 2022 and extended the protection for 18 months in 2023. An estimated 11,000 Afghans are presently covered by TPS, according to activists. As of March 2024, that figure stood at around 9,000.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formally announced on May 12 that it is terminating TPS for Afghanistan, effective July 12, 2025. This will strip Afghans already residing in the United States of protection from deportation.
Last month, DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “determined that Afghanistan no longer continues to meet the statutory requirements for its TPS designation and so she terminated TPS for Afghanistan.”
The May 12 notice, which is expected to be published in the federal register on May 13, echoed that language. The secretary “specifically considered… whether requiring the return of Afghan nationals… to Afghanistan poses a serious threat to their personal safety due to an ongoing armed conflict… whether there are extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevent Afghan nationals from returning in safety… [and] whether, despite any extraordinary and temporary conditions that may prevent their safe return, permitting Afghan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the national interest of the United States…”
Noem, the notice stated, “determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions.”
She “further determined that permitting Afghan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the national interest of the United States.”
Although the notice touched on the conflict between the Taliban and the Islamic State Khorasan Province, and the humanitarian situation, it made no mention of the specific oppression of women, whose voices were outlawed in public by the Taliban last year. Instead, the notice mentions the Taliban’s efforts to up tourism and the rise of Chinese tourists in particular.
In a statement to the media, Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, said “The decision to terminate TPS for Afghanistan is not rooted in reality—it’s rooted in politics.”
VanDiver noted that Afghanistan remains under the control of the Taliban. “There are still assassinations, arbitrary arrests, and ongoing human rights abuses, especially against women and ethnic minorities,” he said.
“What the administration has done today is betray people who risked their lives for America, built lives here, and believed in our promises. This policy change won’t make us safer — it will tear families apart, destabilize lives, and shred what’s left of our moral credibility.”
VanDiver pledged to fight.
“AfghanEvac’s members and myriad other groups will fight this with everything we’ve got: in the courts, in Congress, and in the public square. The United States cannot abandon its allies and call that immigration policy.”
TPS was revoked from Venezuelans in February, followed by a dramatic deportation of more than 200 “Venezuelans” (although not all were Venezuelan nationals) to El Salvador in March. The administration characterized its decision in that case as “restoring the rule of law with respect to TPS” but a federal judge disagreed, blocking the termination of TPS for Venezuelans. DHS complained on its website about the ruling, stating its intention to obtain “relief from the court order,” but the Biden administration’s January 17 extension of TPS for Venezuelans remains in place for the time being.
On May 7, immigration advocacy group CASA announced that it was suing the Trump administration “over its unlawful attempt to rob thousands of Afghans and Cameroonians with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of their lawful immigration status.” DHS similarly has signaled its intention o revoke TPS from Cameroonians, too.
In comments to Newsweek before the notice was made public, CASA’s general counsel Nick Katz said, “The reason that CASA is bringing this case is because we have thousands of members who are impacted here, and nobody knows what is going on. All we have to go on is a quote in a newspaper around the intention to terminate for Cameroon and Afghanistan.”
It seems that the fate of Afghans who fled to the United States in the wake of Washington’s 20-year war and the first Trump administration’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces – which the Biden administration carried out, after a short delay – will likely rest with the courts, and with the open question of whether the administration will continue to adhere to judicial decisions in regard to immigration matters.
Other pathways for Afghans to come to – or remain in – the United States, such as the special immigrant visa (SIV) system, are also under pressure from the Trump administration.