US lawmakers urge halt to planned deportation of Afghans to Pakistan

Sixty-six US lawmakers have urged President Donald Trump’s administration to halt planned deportations of Afghans, including people who assisted coalition forces before the 2021 withdrawal. In a letter sent Monday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, they cited advocacy groups reporting that at least 150 Afghans faced removal beginning Tuesday from detention facilities in Louisiana to Pakistan.

The lawmakers warned that deportees could face retaliation over their own or their relatives’ connections to the United States, or for criticism of the Taliban. They said Washington had a responsibility to protect Afghans who risked their families’ safety to help American troops. The Associated Press reported that Department of Homeland Security officials said in court filings that some would eventually be returned to Afghanistan.

The United States has no diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, where the Taliban took power following the US military withdrawal in August 2021. Pakistan has returned millions of Afghans to Afghanistan in recent years amid worsening relations with the Taliban. Human Rights First said it had confirmed a flight carrying some Afghan deportees from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Pakistan was scheduled for Tuesday.

The planned removals are part of a broader immigration crackdown involving agreements with at least 35 countries to accept nationals of other states. In many cases, the United States cannot return those people directly to their countries because they could face torture, death or persecution. Refugees International and Human Rights First estimate that at least 25,000 people have been forcibly transferred to third countries.

Critics say those arrangements weaken longstanding international protections for refugees and asylum seekers, sometimes sending people to countries with abusive human rights records or serious security risks. Advocates said the Pakistan deportations could also include Iranians. The administration has previously transferred small numbers of Iranians through third countries for eventual return to Iran, despite the ongoing US war against that country.

Shawn VanDiver, founder and president of AfghanEvac, said most Afghans facing deportation had lacked a proper opportunity to contest their removal because they did not have lawyers. He described speaking Monday with a former Afghan government police officer who expected to be deported and feared being returned to Afghanistan. Others had worked for the former Afghan government or the United States, or had relatives who did, he said.

Trump has sought to end Afghan resettlement programmes established under former President Joe Biden. More than 120,000 Afghans were evacuated in 2021, with some remaining in overseas facilities. In September, Washington extended operations at Qatar’s Camp As Sayliyah for nine months. The facility houses more than 1,000 Afghans who helped US forces.

Afghans evacuated to the United States initially received humanitarian parole. In 2022, Biden’s administration granted them Temporary Protected Status for 18 months, enabling them to remain and work legally after parole expired while their immigration cases were resolved. Severe backlogs have since prevented many from advancing asylum applications or requests for special protection linked to their coalition service, VanDiver said.

Trump halted processing of Afghan applications after an Afghan man allegedly shot two National Guardsmen in Washington, DC, in November 2025. Afghan nationals were also included in a blanket visa ban earlier this year, with the administration saying it would review immigration applications from people from Afghanistan. Both measures faced court challenges. VanDiver said advocates were seeking legislation to protect Afghans in the United States, including a bipartisan bill that would give many Temporary Protected Status after the administration withdrew it.