Thousands of Afghans live in the United States, many of whom worked alongside US forces during the war in Afghanistan, and are increasingly worried about deportation. Afghan Evac, an organization involved in evacuating and resettling Afghans, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is rescheduling deportations to Afghanistan for the week beginning November 16, a date that US authorities have not officially confirmed.
In a statement on Tuesday, the organization’s president, Shawn VanDiver, said most of them had arrived under humanitarian parole that has expired, while their applications for permanent residency, asylum and work permits had remained frozen for months. “People who did everything our government asked of them are being treated as if they never served,” he added.
Journey through Pakistan and court rulings
The US administration planned to deport more than 150 Afghans in its custody via Pakistan and then to Afghanistan, according to court documents cited by The Associated Press, Khaama Press reported. On November 6, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said Islamabad had not yet made a final decision on transferring them through its territory.
Also on November 6, a federal judge in New York extended an order barring the deportation of a specific group of Afghans to Afghanistan, Pakistan or any third country while their case remains pending. The order also requires the government to notify them one week before any deportation. The ruling does not cover all Afghans in the country.
The footage shows Democratic Representatives Jason Crow and Sam Liccardo outside the Capitol at night after submitting a petition to force the House to vote on protecting Afghans. Crow, a former soldier who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with airborne and Ranger units, said Afghan partners had risked their lives to protect American soldiers like him, and that honoring the promise made to them was “a moral obligation and a national security necessity.”
150 veterans and Afghan allies at Congress
The petition, filed on November 9, seeks to bring the “Afghan Adjustment Act” to a vote. The legislation would grant Afghans in the United States temporary protected status until July 1, 2029, and requires 218 signatures. Its filing coincided with the arrival of 150 veterans, civilians who had worked on the front lines and Afghan allies at Congress, urging lawmakers to keep their promise, Afghan Evac said, stressing that the bill does not constitute an amnesty or create a path to citizenship.
Representative André Carson, one of the bill’s supporters, described the possibility of deporting Afghans as “cruel and wrong,” saying: “We cannot turn our backs on our allies.” The administration of President Donald Trump ended Afghanistan’s temporary protected status in May 2025, after the administration of President Joe Biden granted it in 2022.
Cover photo: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement via Wikimedia Commons (public domain, archive). Video: Representative Jason Crow.
