Sixty-six members of Congress have asked the Trump administration to halt a planned deportation of more than 150 Afghans, warning that sending them back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan "is a death sentence." The letter, led by Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., was sent Monday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and asks them to cancel deportation flights carrying Afghans and Iranians.
"Our country made a promise never to abandon the Afghans," the lawmakers wrote. "Do not hand over the people who stood alongside our troops to the Taliban, either directly or through Pakistan." According to advocates cited in the letter, the group includes relatives of Afghans who worked with the U.S. military and people who could face persecution over perceived ties to the former Afghan government or foreign forces.
A charter from Louisiana to Pakistan
The first flight was expected as early as Tuesday from Alexandria, Louisiana. In an Oct. 30 sworn declaration, Sergio Aguilar, a supervisory detention and deportation officer at ICE, wrote that "the plane's final destination would be Pakistan with further transport onward to Afghanistan," CBS News reported. It is unclear which government would oversee the overland leg. A U.S. official said the plans remain in flux, and the Department of Homeland Security declined to discuss the flights, citing operational security. "Illegal aliens being sent to a third country receive notice and assurances prior to their removal," a DHS spokesperson said.
Last-minute court fights
Several detainees have turned to federal courts. Said Mansor Sadat, a 30-year-old Afghan, was taken off the flight list and released after a judge ruled his continued detention violated due process; his attorney is seeking emergency relief for a second client. In El Paso, a judge ruled Oct. 29 that the court lacked jurisdiction to stop the removal of Basir Ahmad Ahmadi, and a Louisiana judge denied an emergency request from Khaled Khaleeq the next day.
"They were placed into removal proceedings because they didn't have attorneys to fight," said Shawn VanDiver, founder of the advocacy group #AfghanEvac. "When even the Taliban are voicing 'serious concern' about this plan, the administration should stop and ask what it is doing. It is abandonment with a boarding pass." The Taliban-run Foreign Ministry said it was ready to engage with Washington on returning Afghan nationals but urged third countries not to use them as bargaining chips, Reuters reported.
Five years in limbo
More than 120,000 Afghans were evacuated during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal. The Biden administration granted Afghans Temporary Protected Status in 2022, a designation the Trump administration later ended; a bipartisan Senate bill introduced by Sens. Chris Coons and Lisa Murkowski would restore it for many. After an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard members in Washington in November 2025, Trump halted processing of Afghan applications, and Afghan nationals were later included in a broad visa ban. Both measures are being challenged in court.
Photos: Getty Images via CBS News (file), AP via Al Jazeera (file)
