The Trump administration is ending a program that offered deportation protections for thousands of people from Afghanistan.
The Department of Homeland Security said Monday it will wind down Temporary Protected Status for Afghans on July 12. The TPS program allows migrants to get work permits and temporary reprieve from deportation if the U.S. government determines it is unsafe for them to return to their home countries due to war, natural disaster or some other issues.
Over 8,000 Afghans were approved for TPS as of last year, according to federal statistics. TPS was last extended for Afghanistan in 2023, and it was set to expire in May unless the Trump administration chose to grant another extension.
When the Biden administration extended the program for the country, officials cited a humanitarian crisis since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover, including the collapse of Afghanistan’s economy, human rights abuses by the Taliban and the threat of terrorist attacks by a local Islamic State offshoot.
“This administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement on Monday. “Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent[s] them from returning to their home country.”
The Afghan TPS program is separate from the more permanent “special immigrant visas” issued to Afghans who worked alongside for the U.S. military during its 20-year war in Afghanistan, which ended abruptly in 2021 with the Taliban sweeping through the country.
The winddown of TPS has drawn stiff criticism from advocates.
“This decision is unconscionable and will have long-lasting ripple effects,” #AfghanEvac, a group that helps relocate Afghans, said in a post on X.
The Trump administration has also sought to roll back TPS for Venezuela, which applies to more than 300,000 people, but a judge halted that move in March and argued it was “predicated on negative stereotypes.” The administration is asking the Supreme Court to intervene.