The Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for all Afghan refugees on Monday, paving the way for the deportation of tens of thousands of Afghans living in the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that improving conditions in Afghanistan have made it possible for the refugees to return home. The Biden administration brought in around 76,000 Afghans following the U.S. military’s disastrous withdrawal from the country in 2021 under the orders of President Joe Biden. Most of the Afghan refugees were resettled in Texas, California, and Virginia.
“This administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent,” Noem said. “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.”
Following the Trump administration’s move, deportation protections for Afghans will expire in 60 days, which is the minimum time allowed by law after the notice is filed.
Between 2010 and 2022, the Afghan population in the United States skyrocketed from 54,000 to 195,000. It’s unclear how many of those nearly 200,000 Afghans received legal permanent residency or citizenship in the United States. In 2006, the United States started the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, which sought to help Afghan and Iraqi translators who helped the U.S. military receive their green cards. The federal government expanded the SIV program in 2009 to apply to any Afghan national who was employed by the U.S. government.
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August of 2021 created another crisis for Afghan nationals who sought to quickly flee the country. Immediately after the United States evacuated Afghanistan, the country came under the control of the Taliban, which imposed harsh laws targeting Christians, certain Muslims, and those who were friendly toward the United States. The Taliban also took away any semblance of women’s rights, severely restricting how women dress and act in public.
Noem’s reasoning for ending TPS for Afghans cited Chinese tourism returning to the country and reduced warfare. Some remain concerned, however, that religious minorities who are forced to return to Afghanistan will face persecution or even martyrdom.
Afghanistan also continues to face widespread food insecurity, but Noem wrote in her analysis, “Though humanitarian need remains prevalent, the number of those in need of assistance has declined to 23.7 million this year, a decrease from the more than 29 million Afghan nationals in need reported the previous year.”
