The Trump administration on Monday formally lifted a shield on deportation of Afghans in the U.S, arguing improving conditions in the Taliban-run country mean its citizens here no longer merit such protections.
The announcement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghans, a protection ignited by the Biden administration after the U.S. withdrawal amid deteriorating conditions in the country.
TPS can be ignited when the administration concludes it’s not safe to deport someone to their country due to civil unrest or other dangerous conditions.
“This administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a release on Monday.
“We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation. Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country.”
Poor conditions in Afghanistan have only accelerated since the 2021 U.S. withdrawal.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) last month condemned forced deportations to Afghanistan from neighboring countries, writing that its “escalating humanitarian crisis is being compounded by the mass return of its nationals.”
“The large-scale returns are putting even greater pressure on already stretched humanitarian resources and worsening the plight of millions struggling to survive,” the report states.
A 2023 report from the State Department noted extensive gender-based violence and a “significant deterioration in women’s rights during the year due to edicts that further restricted access to education and employment.”
It also cited a crackdown on religious minorities, LGBT Afghans, activists, and Taliban and ISIS-K recruitment of child soldiers.
Afghanistan is also facing widespread food insecurity.
The Afghan-American Foundation condemned the move when plans to lift the protections were first reported last month, calling it a betrayal of those who assisted the U.S. during its 20 years in the country.
“The sacrifices Afghan allies made in service of the American mission in Afghanistan were not temporary, the protection we offer them must also be permanent. Any instance of that protection being pulled is not only a betrayal of these allies but of the 800,000 Americans who served alongside them in Afghanistan and the countless Americans who have worked to evacuate them to safety since 2021,” Joseph Azam, the chair of the group’s board, said in a statement.
“The President got elected in part on the promise that he would fix the mistakes of the Biden administration in Afghanistan, by betraying Afghans he would be repeating one of the biggest ones.”
Many of the roughly 80,000 Afghans who came to the U.S. after the fall of Kabul have adjusted their status, either securing asylum or a Special Immigrant Visa given to those who assisted U.S. military efforts there. But some 14,600 are still protected under TPS.
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