According to reports, the Trump administration had been planning to begin deporting approximately 200 Afghans from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in Louisiana via flights to Afghanistan or Pakistan. However, the plans were temporarily blocked by a court order after advocates and members of Congress warned that the Afghans’ lives would be in danger.
On November 2, 2026, dozens of members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that said they were “extremely concerned that sending vulnerable people” to Afghanistan or Pakistan would expose them to “persecution, torture, or even death.”
The plans appeared to include sending the Afghans arriving in Pakistan back to Afghanistan, although the specifics were unclear. Zia Ahmad Takal, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s foreign ministry, said “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan expresses its serious concern” about potential deportations of Afghans to Pakistan, and said that “third-party countries should not engage in dealings concerning the fate of another nation’s citizens.”
Savitri Arvey, of Human Rights First, said, “We celebrate today, but we’re getting right back to work tomorrow, continuing to make sure through our flight tracking that none of these flights are taking off.”
