Dozens of Afghans who are currently in the US but fear being deported back to Afghanistan along with a larger group and possibly killed by the Taliban are experiencing “fragile relief” this weekend after it appeared that the Trump administration had put on hold plans to remove them within days.
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administration → fear → days
Members of Congress and advocates have repeatedly warned that the deportations could effectively be a death sentence.
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deportations → warn → Congress
A flight originally scheduled to transport the group out of the US on election day earlier this month had stayed grounded after a federal judge issued a court order temporarily blocking its departure to Afghanistan or neighboring Pakistan.
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judge → schedule → Afghanistan
The whole group numbers more than 150 Afghans, the New York Times reported.
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Times → number → Afghans
And the AP previously reported that the federal government intends to route these detainees to their home country via Pakistan.
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government → report → Pakistan
Then, as the temporary court order expired last weekend, immigration advocates battling to prevent the deportations talked of dreading that the detainees could be forced to leave the US during the week of 16 November .
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detainees → expire → November
This prospect was based on a rescheduled removal date given for at least one Afghan man currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention who was due to be on the flight.
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who → base → flight
As that date loomed, suddenly there was another development amid frantic advocacy efforts.
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date → loom → efforts
Late on Tuesday, it was learned that that detainee, along with a handful of other detained Afghans on the original flight manifest, now no longer had a specified departure date issued by the US government.
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detainee → learn → government
Some immigration lawyers also reported that their Afghan clients had been moved from staging facilities to long-term detention facilities, suggesting they would not be forced onto a deportation flight in the coming days after all.
Amid some confusion and often few details from the administration, Shawn VanDiver, founder and president of the US non-profit coalition #AfghanEvac, said that a sensation of “fragile relief” had descended on the people involved.
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sensation → report → people
Some of the Afghans in the targeted group have relatives who assisted the US war on Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 that drove out the Taliban, VanDiver said.
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VanDiver → target → Taliban
He had already called Donald Trump’s efforts to remove Afghans from the US cruel and being done in “a heinous matter” as a scare tactic against others.
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He → call → others
“In a matter of days, these allies were told they were being sent through Pakistan into the hands of the Taliban, then told they were safe, then told that nobody knows.
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nobody → tell → Taliban
It’s whiplash inflicted on people who already survived a war,” he said.
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he → ’ → war
“These men and women kept their promise to America, and it’s time we kept ours by ending these removals for good.”
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we → keep → removals
VanDiver has slammed any option to use Pakistan as a conduit for “forced rendition”.
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VanDiver → slam → rendition
Immigration advocates are hoping continued pressure will result in further delays and the ultimate cancellation of that flight and any others planned for the coming weeks.
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pressure → hop → weeks
In the meantime, #AfghanEvac is pushing what will become the newly Democratic-controlled Congress in January to pass a bipartisan bill that has been drafted and would give Afghans who are already in the US temporary protected status (TPS) through July 2029, with a vetting process.
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who → push → process
The US supreme court in June allowed the Trump administration to strip such protections, including from Afghans.
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administration → allow → Afghans
Such legislation would “keep people we already vetted and brought here from being sent back to the Taliban while their cases are decided”, VanDiver said.
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VanDiver → keep → Taliban
Among the passengers reported to be on the blocked flight were Afghans whose relatives helped American troops, women, at least one gay man and members of the minority ethnic Hazara group – some who have said they were previously beaten by the Taliban.
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they → report → Taliban
Human Rights First, the US-based human rights group, has warned about “grave, systematic dangers” for Afghans returned to Afghanistan.
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First → base → Afghanistan
That includes “arbitrary detentions, executions, public flogging, and retaliatory violence”, as well as restrictions on basic freedoms for women and girls.
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That → include → women
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in response to questions and a request for comment that the agency complies with all lawful court orders and that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not comment on or confirm prospective removal operations, for operational security reasons, and the safety of its officers.
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Immigration → say → officers
Sari Arvey, director of policy, refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First, said that the Trump administration’s targeting of Afghans reflects a broader trend of creating arrangements with other governments to send people back to war zones, security crises and countries that don’t have diplomatic relations with the US.
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that → say → US
The US suspended relations with Afghanistan after the Taliban government took over in 2021, forcing a scrambled US evacuation.
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government → suspend → evacuation
The Trump administration has held secret talks with Iran about deporting Iranians via a third country, and last Sunday an attorney reported that the US deportation flight of Iranian nationals headed to Iran via Pakistan was abruptly canceled, according to the AP.
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flight → hold → AP
The Trump administration also is increasingly deporting immigrants to such “third countries”.
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administration → deport → countries
The supreme court is still litigating in what circumstances the federal government can deport people to regions they have no connection to, though in late September, the court ruled on an emergency basis, allowing Trump to continue this practice.
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Trump → litigate → practice
Federal law is designed to prevent the US government from forcing someone to return to a country where they are likely to face torture.
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they → design → torture
The DHS said in a statement that immigrants sent to a third country “receive notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal unless the Department of State is given diplomatic assurances from destination countries” that they would be safe upon return.
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they → say → return
More than 60 concerned lawmakers in Congress signed a letter to the DHS and the state department, citing relevant law and also calling for the cancellation of any deportation flights of Afghans or Iranians to their home countries, either directly or through any other country.
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lawmakers → sign → country
“The United States is also bound not to return anyone to a country where they would face torture, and that obligation does not disappear because a flight makes a stop along the way,” the letter stated.
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letter → bind → way
In another letter, New York congressman Gregory Meeks and US senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, both Democrats, wrote to Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, urging the Pakistani government not to collaborate in any operation to fly Afghans to Pakistan and then expel them over the border to Afghanistan.
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Meeks → write → Afghanistan
The Pakistani embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
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embassy → respond → comment
The Afghans targeted are believed to have final removal orders, which means the US can legally deport them.
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US → target → them
But the fact that an immigrant failed to get asylum or prove to the Trump administration that they have a credible fear about returning to their home country does not mean they don’t face serious risks in their native country, critics argue.
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critics → fail → country
The US state department advises Americans: “Do not travel to Afghanistan for any reason,” warning of “civil unrest, crime, terrorism, risk of wrongful detention, kidnapping, natural disasters, and limited health facilities”.
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department → advise → detention
The risks for returning Afghans are seen as much greater.
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risks → return → Afghans
“We are talking about people who’ve already been tortured, people who came with evidence – some of the most compelling claims – and the idea that they could find themselves on this flight is pretty horrifying,” said Sarah Mehta, deputy director of immigration policy at the ACLU.
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Mehta → talk → ACLU
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
