The Trump administration announced on Friday that Temporary Protected Status (T.P.S.) for Afghan allies in the United States is being canceled, stating that “Afghanistan no longer meets the statutory requirements for its T.P.S. designation.” As a result, over 14,000 Afghans now face the risk of deportation in May and June.
Afghans were first protected under the T.P.S. in 2022 by the Biden administration after the Taliban took control of the government. The protections for Afghans were justified because there was a “serious threat posed by ongoing armed conflict; lack of access to food, clean water, and health care; and destroyed infrastructure, internal displacement and economic instability.” Three years later, the situation in Afghanistan has only worsened. Women and children are facing one of the largest malnutrition crises that Afghanistan has ever seen because of a lack of food. Women cannot go to school or work, and Afghans are dying due to violence and conflict.
The cancellation of T.P.S is even more dire for women and girls. Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, head of Global Refugee, says that “For Afghan women and girls, ending these humanitarian protections means ending access to opportunity, freedom, and safety. Forcing them back to Taliban rule, where they face systemic oppression and gender-based violence, would be an utterly unconscionable stain on our nation’s reputation.”
Thousands of Afghans remain in limbo – unsure of what their status will look like in the upcoming weeks. When the Trump administration issued the executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), many Afghans even with a plane ticket found themselves in limbo. Freshta, a priority applicant who was a former female prosecutor that brought justice for victims of domestic violence, suddenly had their flight cancelled when the USRAP was paused. Freshta “was mentally crushed by that.” Although USRAP was resumed, Afghan allies waiting overseas and those who are already in the U.S. once again find themselves facing a change in policy that renders many fearful and uncertain for their future plans.
Especially for Afghan women and girls, the possibility of being deported to Afghanistan is a future that is difficult to grasp given the extreme violation of women’s rights in Afghanistan by the Taliban. Afghanistan’s dangerous and unstable conditions have not changed, and neither should the T.P.S policy that protects Afghan allies who came with the support of the U.S. government.
The global community must call on the current administration to reverse the cancellation of the T.S.P program for Afghans, especially those who had helped the U.S. while they were in Afghanistan. Forgetting those who stood with the U.S. in difficult times puts a stain on the U.S. now and in the future. It is a moral imperative to reinstate the status and keep Afghan allies at home in the U.S.
Sources: NY Times
