A group of 66 lawmakers in the United States has written to the Trump administration asking it to halt a planned mass deportation of Afghans, including some who worked alongside coalition forces in Afghanistan before the military withdrawal in 2021. The letter, sent on Monday, is a new development in a fast-moving dispute over flights the administration is planning for this month.
The lawmakers cited advocacy group reports that at least 150 Afghans were scheduled to be deported from Tuesday, flown from detention facilities in Louisiana to Pakistan, according to Al Jazeera. Human Rights First said it had confirmed that a flight carrying some of the Afghans from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Pakistan was scheduled for Tuesday. The United States does not have diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, which has been governed by the Taliban since US troops withdrew in August 2021, so the plan routes deportees through Pakistan, with onward transport to Afghanistan described in government court filings.
A court pause that has now expired
A federal judge in New York temporarily blocked the removals last week. US District Judge Valerie Caproni issued a temporary order on November 3 preventing the administration from deporting Afghan nationals to Afghanistan or Pakistan through the end of the week, after government lawyers told the court that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had no planned or confirmed chartered or commercial flights for those deportations during that period. The restriction expired on November 7.
A later Department of Homeland Security court filing said the department intended to proceed with flights scheduled for November 16, according to reports. More than 80 detained Afghans had contacted advocates after being told they could be removed through Pakistan, and officials reportedly told the New York Times that the removal is, in effect, to Afghanistan.
A push for protection in Congress
Representatives Jason Crow of Colorado and Sam Liccardo of California, both Democrats, are seeking a vote on the Afghanistan TPS Act of 2026, which would allow qualifying Afghan nationals already in the United States to apply for Temporary Protected Status, letting them remain and work legally through July 1, 2029. A discharge petition to force a vote had 21 signatures on November 9, leaving its supporters 197 short of the number needed to force action.
The Trump administration terminated Afghanistan’s TPS designation in May 2025, and the termination took effect on July 14 that year. President Trump ordered a halt to processing applications from Afghans after a man from Afghanistan allegedly shot two National Guardsmen in Washington, DC, in November 2025. A bipartisan poll by AfghanEvac and HIAS found that 84 percent of likely 2026 voters say America should keep its promise to Afghan wartime allies. The administration has forcibly sent at least 25,000 people to third countries, according to a tally by nonprofits Refugees International and Human Rights First.
Related reading: Trump: No Amnesty as Afghan Deportation Flight Due Tuesday.
