A group of 66 U.S. lawmakers has written to President Donald Trump’s administration to halt plans for the mass deportation of Afghans, including those who worked with coalition forces in Afghanistan before the 2021 military withdrawal.
In Monday’s letter, the lawmakers cited an advocacy group’s report that at least 150 Afghans are scheduled to be airlifted to Pakistan from a detention facility in Louisiana starting Tuesday.
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The Associated Press also reported that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said in court filings that they plan to eventually return some Afghans to their home countries.
The United States has no diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, which has been under Taliban rule since the withdrawal of U.S. troops in August 2021.
“Sending dozens of people back to one of the most dangerous countries on Earth, where they and their families are likely to be targeted for their support for the U.S. government or criticism of the Taliban, is a death sentence,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.
“Our nation has promised never to abandon the Afghans who sacrificed their safety and the safety of their families to stand by our service members.”
Forced return to a third country
As part of its immigration crackdown, the Trump administration has agreements with at least 35 countries to take in third-country nationals, often because they cannot return them to their home countries for fear of being tortured, killed or otherwise persecuted.
Critics of the practice say it undermines decades of global humanitarian norms regarding the protection of asylum seekers and refugees. They say deportees often end up in countries with records of human rights abuses or extremely dangerous places where the United States tells its citizens not to travel.
The Trump administration has forcibly returned at least 25,000 people to third countries, according to a tally by the nonprofit groups Refugee International and Human Rights First.
Human Rights First said it had confirmed that a flight carrying some Afghans from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Pakistan was scheduled for Tuesday.
Advocacy groups say deportations to Pakistan could include Iranians, and even as the United States continues its war against Iran, the Trump administration has so far sent a small number of Iranians to third countries and ultimately returned them to Iran.
Pakistan has forcibly returned millions of Afghans to Afghanistan in recent years due to worsening relations with the Taliban.
Afghans in the US are at a loss
Most Afghans scheduled for deportation have not had the opportunity to properly fight their deportation in court, said Sean Vandiver, founder and president of the Afghan Evak Advocacy Group.
“They didn’t have lawyers to fight, so the dismissal process took place,” he said.
Vandiver said he spoke with a man Monday. The man, a former police officer from the Afghan government that was overthrown by the Taliban, feared for his life because he expected to be deported if he returned to Afghanistan. Vandiver said others would be at risk in Afghanistan because they worked for the Afghan government or the United States, or had family members who did so.
Since taking office, President Trump has sought to halt a resettlement program for Afghans initiated by former President Joe Biden. More than 120,000 Afghans were evacuated from Afghanistan in 2021 after the chaotic withdrawal of US troops.
Some moved to facilities overseas, including in Qatar. In September, the United States granted a nine-month extension to Camp As Sayriya, a facility in Qatar that houses more than 1,000 Afghans who supported American forces in Afghanistan.
Afghans who sought refuge in the United States were initially granted humanitarian parole and allowed to remain in the country. In 2022, the Biden administration granted them Temporary Protected Status for 18 months, allowing them to live and work legally in the United States while their parole period expires and their immigration status is resolved.
But since then, most Afghans living in the U.S. have been unable to transition their asylum claims or other special protected status related to their work with coalition forces through a severely stalled immigration system.
“These people are in a dire situation. They’ve been in this limbo for five years, waiting for green cards, waiting for green cards, waiting to hear their status,” Vandiver said.
The Trump administration introduced record low Asylum application quotas around the world. However, he made an exception for white Afrikaners from South Africa, who claimed to have suffered anti-white racism, and gave them sanctuary.
President Trump ordered a halt to processing applications from Afghans after an Afghan man allegedly shot and killed two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., in November 2025. The Trump administration also placed Afghan nationals under a blanket visa ban earlier this year and said it would review applications for entry from the country. Both policies were challenged in court.
Vandiver and other advocates said they are pushing new legislation to protect Afghans in the United States, including a bill co-sponsored by Republican and Democratic lawmakers that would grant Temporary Protected Status to many after the Trump administration withdrew the bill.
