KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – A federal judge in New York on Tuesday issued an order temporarily blocking the Trump administration from deporting over 150 Afghan nationals to Afghanistan or Pakistan through the end of the week, amid mounting opposition from US lawmakers and rights advocates.
US District Judge Valerie Caproni issued the temporary restraining order on November 3, requiring the administration to halt any deportation flights involving Afghan nationals to either country at least through Saturday, November 7, according to ABC News.
The order followed assurances from government lawyers that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has no planned or confirmed chartered or commercial flights to deport Afghans through the end of the week. The government also told the court that arranging such flights takes several weeks.
In her written order, Caproni instructed the Trump administration to abide by its statements in court, effectively barring authorities from carrying out the reported deportation plan while the order remains in effect.
The ruling came days after reports that the administration was preparing to deport more than 150 Afghan migrants detained in Louisiana to Pakistan, from where they would potentially be transferred overland to Afghanistan and handed over to the Taliban.
The New York Times first reported the plan on October 30, citing US officials and court documents. The newspaper reported that the proposed operation would include relatives of Afghans who had worked alongside American forces, at least one woman and a gay Afghan man who fear persecution under Taliban rule.
The planned removals drew sharp opposition. A bipartisan group of 66 members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin urging an immediate halt. The lawmakers warned that returning the individuals could expose them to “persecution, torture, or even death.”
Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, a US-based organization supporting Afghans who worked alongside American forces, welcomed the court’s intervention but described it as a temporary reprieve rather than a final resolution.
“A week ago, there was a plane. Today, the government told a federal judge there isn’t one,” Shawn said, according to ABC News. “That didn’t happen by accident. Veterans, advocates, 66 members of Congress, and thousands of Americans got this flight stopped, and the court made sure it stays stopped this week. This is a reprieve, not a resolution.”
The ruling does not permanently prevent the administration from deporting Afghan nationals or determine whether the detainees qualify for protection under US immigration law. It also does not resolve concerns about the proposed use of Pakistan as a transit country for returning Afghans to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
