WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to deport more than 150 Afghan immigrants to Afghanistan, a U.S. official and a coalition of veterans and advocacy groups said Friday — a move that would see Trump deport Afghan immigrants at a scale ranking among the largest single expulsions of Afghans from the United States.
Dozens of Afghan immigrants have already been detained in Louisiana in recent days, and the first deportation flight could depart as early as Monday, according to reporting by the New York Times.
Because the United States has no diplomatic relations with the Taliban government in Kabul, the deportations would be routed through Pakistan, a U.S. official told Reuters. Without the Pakistan route, there would be no practical way for Trump to deport Afghan immigrants to a country with which Washington has no formal ties. The Department of Homeland Security declined to confirm any future removal operations, citing operational security.
Who Faces Removal Under Trump’s Afghan Deportation Plan
Many of those facing deportation fled Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control in August 2021, during the chaotic final weeks of the U.S. withdrawal, said Shawn VanDiver, the head of #AfghanEvac, a coalition that has worked to resettle Afghans who aided the American mission.
Some of those now in detention are “brothers and sons of men who served alongside U.S. forces, families the Taliban already has every reason to target,” VanDiver said.
Advocates warn that returning Afghans to a country ruled by the Taliban could put them in direct danger, particularly those with ties to the former Afghan government, the U.S. military, or Western nonprofit organizations.
VanDiver’s coalition has been tracking the detentions and says families have received little information about where their loved ones are being held. The lack of transparency, advocates argue, makes it harder for attorneys to intervene before the Trump deport Afghan immigrants operation moves forward.
Attorneys representing some of the detainees say their clients were picked up during scheduled check-ins with immigration authorities — appointments many had kept for years without incident. The detentions have sown fear through Afghan communities in Texas, Virginia and California, where community leaders say families are now afraid to attend routine immigration appointments as the Trump deport Afghan immigrants operation expands.
Trump’s Immigration Crackdown and the Afghan Deportation Drive
President Donald Trump has said his sweeping immigration crackdown and deportation drive are aimed at improving domestic security. Since returning to office, his administration has moved aggressively to detain and remove immigrants, including those with temporary protections granted under previous administrations. Observers say the Trump deport Afghan immigrants plan marks one of the most politically charged moves of that drive.
Rights advocates counter that the crackdown has violated due process and free speech protections and created an unsafe environment for minorities, with growing concerns about racial profiling in enforcement operations.
Supporters of the Trump deport Afghan immigrants push argue that the administration is enforcing immigration law as written and say temporary protections were never meant to be permanent. The White House has framed the removals as part of a broader promise to prioritize the deportation of non-citizens with criminal records, though advocates note that many of the detained Afghans have no criminal history.
VanDiver urged Congress to pass legislation granting Afghans in the United States temporary protected status, which would shield them from deportation while conditions in Afghanistan remain unstable — a move he says would halt Trump’s plan to deport Afghan immigrants while Kabul stays in Taliban hands.
Why the U.S. Must Route Afghan Deportations Through Pakistan
Routing the deportations through Pakistan underscores the diplomatic bind that shapes every attempt to deport Afghan immigrants from the United States: without an American embassy in Kabul or formal ties to the Taliban, Washington must rely on third countries to carry out removals to Afghanistan.
Pakistan itself has expelled more than 2 million Afghan nationals back to Afghanistan since 2023, in a mass repatriation campaign that drew condemnation from the United Nations and human rights groups. Rights organizations have warned of dire humanitarian conditions for returnees, many of whom arrive with few resources in a country gripped by economic collapse.
Humanitarian groups warn that Afghans deported by the United States would arrive in a country where the economy has collapsed and where women and girls face severe restrictions on education and work. The United Nations has said forced returns to Afghanistan should not take place while conditions remain dire — a warning that applies with particular force to the Trump deport Afghan immigrants plan, given the Taliban’s record of reprisals.
What Happens Next for Afghans Facing Deportation Under Trump
The Department of Homeland Security would not say when flights might begin or how many people would be on each one. But with detentions already underway in Louisiana and a first flight possible within days, the deportation plan appears to be moving from preparation to execution.
Immigration attorneys say the Afghan detainees could challenge their removal in federal court, arguing that deporting them to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan would violate U.S. protections against returning people to countries where they face persecution. Whether those challenges can halt the flights remains uncertain, but advocates say the legal battle is only beginning.
Veterans’ groups, including #AfghanEvac, say they are coordinating with immigration lawyers to file emergency motions in federal court as soon as removal orders are issued. The coalition argues that the United States made explicit promises of protection to Afghans who aided its mission — promises it says the current deportation drive betrays. Whether the courts intervene before the first flight departs could determine the fate of all 150 detainees.
Trump Deport Afghan Immigrants: Why the Scale Matters
There is little precedent for a single U.S. operation that would see Trump deport Afghan immigrants in these numbers. Advocates say a removal drive of this size would test whether the United States still honors the promises made to the Afghans who stood beside its forces — and they are urging courts and Congress to stop the flights before they begin.
For the Afghans in detention — many of whom arrived in the United States believing they had found permanent refuge after the fall of Kabul — the coming days could decide whether they stay or are sent back to the country they fled, as the drive to see Trump deport Afghan immigrants reaches an unprecedented scale.
A developing story. This article will be updated as more details emerge.
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Source: Reuters