The Trump Administration announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghan refugees in the U.S. today, a move affecting approximately 14,600 Afghan refugees already residing in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that the TPS designation for Afghanistan will expire on May 20, 2025, with termination effective July 12, 2025. TPS has been suspended for 7,600 refugees from Cameroon, too.
“This administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (former governor of South Dakota) said Monday in a release.
“We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation. Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country.”
TPS was established by the U.S. government in 1990 as a form of humanitarian relief. It offers temporary legal status to nationals of certain countries experiencing conditions such as armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances that make a return to their country unsafe.
TPS was initially granted to Afghan refugees under the Biden Administration on May 20, 2022, in response to the humanitarian crisis following the U.S. withdrawal and the Taliban’s return to power. The program provided temporary legal status and work authorization to those unable to safely return to their home country.
The decision to end TPS for Afghan refugees has drawn criticism from refugee advocates and legal experts, who call it “unconscionable.” Advocates argue that the conditions in Afghanistan remain dangerous, particularly for women, minorities, and individuals associated with the former U.S.-backed government. A lawsuit challenging the termination has been filed by CASA, asserting that the move disregards ongoing threats to Afghan nationals.
Under Taliban rule for nearly four years, neither security nor the economy in Afghanistan has improved – in fact, both have deteriorated. Contrary to Kristi Noem’s claims, the reality on the ground is far from stable. Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous places in the world, particularly for women and girls. The Taliban leadership has systematically targeted them, issuing nearly 150 edicts that strip women of their most basic rights. These decrees have banned women from education, barred them from employment, and even prohibited them from gathering or speaking to one another.
The lack of women’s participation in the economy has also deepened Afghanistan’s economic crisis, as half the population is excluded from contributing to the workforce. Noem’s assessment ignores these grim facts and fails to recognize the ongoing repression and instability that define Afghanistan today. Additionally, unemployment among men has also reached its highest level in the past four years, signaling a widespread economic collapse across the entire population. Afghanistan is also facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with millions experiencing acute hunger, families unable to afford even basic food, and children suffering the most from severe malnutrition and stunted growth. Recent aid cuts, including those under the Trump Administration, have further exacerbated the near-famine conditions.
In contrast, the Trump administration has initiated a new refugee program prioritizing white South Africans, specifically Afrikaners, citing alleged “racial discrimination” under South Africa’s Black-led government. A group of 59 white South Africans arrived in the U.S. on Monday, May 12, under this program. Critics argue that this policy shift reflects a racial bias in the administration’s immigration priorities, favoring white applicants over those fleeing real danger and conflict zones.
The juxtaposition of ending protections for Afghans while facilitating the resettlement of white South Africans has intensified debates over the Trump Administration’s immigration policies and their alignment with humanitarian principles.
While the political debate drags on immigration and TPS for Afghans in the U.S., thousands of individuals at risk of deportation are left to live in limbo, uncertain about their future, and trapped in a state of fear and anxiety. If deported, they face being sent back to a country where their basic rights are denied and their lives are in grave danger. Many would return to conditions of violence, persecution, and repression, with no access to legal protection, education, or employment. It not only harms their mental health and well-being for the upcoming days and months, but it also destabilizes families and communities that have built their lives in the U.S.
The human cost of delaying protection is too high to ignore.
Homeland Security; BBC; AP; Federal Register; Stop Gender Apartheid, Feminist Newswire
