WASHINGTON — An appeals court late Monday stepped in to keep in place protections for nearly 12,000 Afghans that have allowed them to work in the U.S. and be protected from deportation after they were set to expire as part of the Trump administration's efforts to make more people eligible for removal from the country.
The Department of Homeland Security in May said it was ending Temporary Protected Status for 11,700 people from Afghanistan in 60 days. That status had allowed them to work and meant the government couldn't deport them.
CASA, a nonprofit immigrant advocacy group, sued the administration over the TPS revocation for Afghans as well as for people from Cameroon — those expire August 4. A federal judge last Friday allowed the lawsuit to go forward but didn't grant CASA's request to keep the protections in place while the lawsuit plays out.
CASA appealed the case Monday and won a stay keeping in place the temporary status for Afghans that was set to expire Monday. The appeals court gave no reason for its decision, but indicated it would be deciding what to do swiftly. The stay is in place for one week, and the court has asked both sides to file briefs this week. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The number of Afghans protected by TPS is relatively small compared to the overall number of Afghans — about 180,000 — who have fled Afghanistan and come to the U.S. since the Taliban retook control of the country in 2021. It's also not clear how many of those 11,7000 covered by TPS have applied for or received other forms of protection, like asylum.
But the removal of the protective status for Afghans has struck a chord with many advocates and volunteers because of the suggestion that it is safe for Afghans — including many who helped the U.S. during its two-decade long war there — to go home.
"Since so many of those losing their protections served alongside U.S. forces, we should honor that service by upholding our promise to provide safety and ensure that they have an opportunity to thrive here. We urge Congress to protect Afghans by providing them permanent status — a commitment that is long overdue," said Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum.
At the time that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ended the temporary protected status for Afghans, the department wrote in the decision that the situation in their home country was getting better.
"The Secretary determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions," according to the May announcement.
Temporary Protected Status can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary to people of various nationalities who are in the United States. They can't be deported and can work legally but they don't have a pathway to citizenship.
The status is inherently precarious because it is up to the Homeland Security secretary to renew the protections regularly — usually every 18 months. The first Trump administration tried to remove many of these temporary protected statuses but was largely foiled by the courts.
This time around, the Trump administration has moved even more aggressively to remove the protections, thus making more people eligible for removal from the country. The administration has pushed to remove temporary protected status from people from seven countries, with Venezuela and Haiti making up the biggest chunk of the hundreds of thousands of people losing their protections.
Critics say that successive administrations essentially rubber-stamped these renewals regardless, and people covered by what's supposed to be a temporary status end up staying in the United States for years.
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