The Trump administration issued orders for Afghan refugees who legally entered the United States after the 2021 Taliban takeover to depart within one week or face deportation and potential legal action, according to several reports.
The US Department of Homeland Security has been sending “Notices of Termination of Parole” to Afghan nationals who had been admitted under humanitarian parole programs or other legal pathways, the reports said.
The notices warn recipients to voluntarily depart the country within seven days or face arrest and removal proceedings, according to emails sent to those involved in parole cases.
The move comes amid an ongoing immigration crackdown by President Donald Trump, who pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in US history and has detained and deported thousands of people since taking office.
Since taking office on 20 January, the administration has ramped up enforcement actions, including against Afghans who fled their country fearing Taliban persecution.
US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, ending a 20-year military presence that began as part of the War on Terror following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
According to Newsweek, the Taliban quickly regained control of the country after the US withdrawal, prompting tens of thousands of Afghans to flee, especially those who worked with the US government and feared retaliation.
It said many of those who fled Afghanistan applied for US entry through Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), asylum or Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a designation that shielded them from deportation. Other Afghans have sought refuge in the US from religious and ethnic persecution in their home country.
“The Trump administration is now moving to end TPS protections for thousands of Afghan nationals, which could result in their deportation back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan,” Newsweek wrote.
It said that in recent weeks, the DHS has been sending seven-day self-deportation notices to a variety of individuals, including those who arrived through legal programs, such as humanitarian parole.
7-Day Notice
Several local media outlets in Raleigh, North Carolina, have reported that Afghan members of the community received a DHS email asking them to leave the county within seven days or face legal action.
WRAL interviewed an Afghan migrant who shared an email titled “Notice of Termination of Parole,” stating that his “parole will terminate 7 days from this notice” and warning, “if you do not depart the United States immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions.”
The migrant, who requested anonymity in the TV interview but identifies as a member of Apostles Church in Raleigh said, “If we go back to Afghanistan, we are not safe. It is like we are signing the suicide mission for ourselves,” according to Newsweek.
Other people have received similar emails, including US citizen and immigration attorney Nicole Micheroni, who says she was told by the DHS: “It is time for you to leave the United States.”
A senior DHS official previously told Newsweek that emails were sent to those associated with parole cases. Micheroni is not on parole.
According to Congress, between August 2021 and August 2024, nearly 150,000 Afghans resettled in the United States.
On Friday, the DHS began enforcing the Alien Registration Requirement (ARR), which means illegal immigrants must register with the government within 30 days or face penalties.
Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, head of the refugee resettlement organization Global Refuge, told The New York Times last week: “For Afghan women and girls, ending these humanitarian protections means ending access to opportunity, freedom, and safety.”
Vignarajah said that “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.”
Few days ago, Shawn VanDiver, CEO of AfghanEvac, told NPR: “Each person who's here on temporary protected status is somebody that is in danger if they return home because of their relationship to the United States.”
He added, “And in many cases, they're people who stood with us in our time of need during war...ending temporary protected status for Afghans isn't just cold. It's cowardly. We promised them safety. Now we're pulling the rug out from under these more than 10,000 people who stood with us, and they're terrified. They're scared.”
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