"Operation Enduring Welcome" does not endure; Many Afghans living in the U.S. fear being tortured or killed if they get deported

[essentialsaltes]

Many Afghans living in the U.S. fear being tortured or killed if they get deported​

The end of Enduring Welcome and temporary protected status​

Soon after President Trump took office, the State Department shut down its Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) and the program that CARE oversees, Operation Enduring Welcome.

Roughly 200,000 Afghan immigrants and refugees came to the U.S. after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021.

While some of them have since received green cards or even U.S. citizenship, many have more tenuous legal status, such as humanitarian parole or temporary protected status (TPS).

Afghans who are here on TPS got a shock in April when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that she would not be renewing the protection when it expires [on May 20th]

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS,) issued the following statement explaining the decision to end TPS for Afghans:

"Secretary Noem made the decision to terminate TPS for individuals from Afghanistan because the country's improved security situation and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country," McLaughlin wrote.

[Taliban's got everything under control, folks! They will welcome you with open arms for your service to the United States and the government they deposed.]

While Noem argues that the security outlook in Afghanistan has improved, the U.S. State Department's website lists the travel advisory for Afghanistan at the highest risk, Level 4: "Do Not Travel, due to armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, terrorism, and kidnapping. Travel to all areas of Afghanistan is unsafe."

 

[Nithavela]

Many Afghans living in the U.S. fear being tortured or killed if they get deported​

The end of Enduring Welcome and temporary protected status​

Soon after President Trump took office, the State Department shut down its Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) and the program that CARE oversees, Operation Enduring Welcome.

Roughly 200,000 Afghan immigrants and refugees came to the U.S. after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021.

While some of them have since received green cards or even U.S. citizenship, many have more tenuous legal status, such as humanitarian parole or temporary protected status (TPS).

Afghans who are here on TPS got a shock in April when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that she would not be renewing the protection when it expires [on May 20th]

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS,) issued the following statement explaining the decision to end TPS for Afghans:

"Secretary Noem made the decision to terminate TPS for individuals from Afghanistan because the country's improved security situation and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country," McLaughlin wrote.

[Taliban's got everything under control, folks! They will welcome you with open arms for your service to the United States and the government they deposed.]

While Noem argues that the security outlook in Afghanistan has improved, the U.S. State Department's website lists the travel advisory for Afghanistan at the highest risk, Level 4: "Do Not Travel, due to armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, terrorism, and kidnapping. Travel to all areas of Afghanistan is unsafe."

The security outlook is for brown people, the travel advisory is for white people.

 

[essentialsaltes]

WaPo article had this detail:

“If they attempt to deport the Afghans, you're going to see actual physical conflict between veterans and ICE,” predicted Matt Zeller, an Army veteran who became a prominent advocate for America’s Afghan allies after his interpreter saved his life.”

Now that would be something.

 

[Nithavela]

WaPo article had this detail:

“If they attempt to deport the Afghans, you're going to see actual physical conflict between veterans and ICE,” predicted Matt Zeller, an Army veteran who became a prominent advocate for America’s Afghan allies after his interpreter saved his life.”

Now that would be something.

I doubt it. They'll get carted off like the rest. Maybe some people will be protesting afterwards.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

I doubt it. They'll get carted off like the rest. Maybe some people will be protesting afterwards.

Or be flying Trump flags at the end of the day.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Afghan ally detained by ICE after attending immigration court hearing​

In a video obtained by CBS News, two unidentified ICE agents put Sayed Naser in handcuffs and escorted him from the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego after he attended a mandatory immigration hearing on Wednesday, June 11.

Naser was legally paroled into the U.S in 2024, according to his lawyer, Brian McGoldrick. In addition to an active asylum case, he has a pending Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) case because of his long history supporting the U.S. military. SIVs are provided to foreign nationals who worked with U.S. military forces in war zones including Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Naser has no criminal record in the U.S. or Afghanistan, according to court records reviewed by CBS News.

Naser served as a civilian interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan from 2015 to 2018. He and his brothers also co-owned a logistics company that provided anti-mining support to American troops, according to employment records viewed by CBS News.

But after the U.S. withdrew from the country in August 2021, his partnership with American forces put targets on the backs of Naser and his family. In 2023, Taliban fighters killed his brother and abducted his father at a family wedding. The attack drove Naser out of the country and forced his wife and children to flee their home.

"This man served with our troops. He came through the front door. He followed every rule. And we locked him up anyway," said Shawn VanDiver, executive director for #AfghanEvac, a nonprofit that advocates for U.S. wartime allies. He said it's unknown how many Afghan allies have been detained by ICE officials.

As part of his asylum process, Naser was required to attend an in-person hearing last week in front of a judge and a lawyer from the Department of Homeland Security. But when Naser showed up to court, the DHS lawyer said that his case was "'improvidently issued."

"'Improvidently issued' is becoming ICE's new catch-all — a vague, unchallengeable justification being used to clear dockets and meet removal and detention quotas," said VanDiver. "It's being weaponized to put lawful, parole-compliant asylum-seekers in cells."

 

[iluvatar5150]

Afghan ally detained by ICE after attending immigration court hearing​

In a video obtained by CBS News, two unidentified ICE agents put Sayed Naser in handcuffs and escorted him from the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego after he attended a mandatory immigration hearing on Wednesday, June 11.

Naser was legally paroled into the U.S in 2024, according to his lawyer, Brian McGoldrick. In addition to an active asylum case, he has a pending Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) case because of his long history supporting the U.S. military. SIVs are provided to foreign nationals who worked with U.S. military forces in war zones including Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Naser has no criminal record in the U.S. or Afghanistan, according to court records reviewed by CBS News.

Naser served as a civilian interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan from 2015 to 2018. He and his brothers also co-owned a logistics company that provided anti-mining support to American troops, according to employment records viewed by CBS News.

But after the U.S. withdrew from the country in August 2021, his partnership with American forces put targets on the backs of Naser and his family. In 2023, Taliban fighters killed his brother and abducted his father at a family wedding. The attack drove Naser out of the country and forced his wife and children to flee their home.

"This man served with our troops. He came through the front door. He followed every rule. And we locked him up anyway," said Shawn VanDiver, executive director for #AfghanEvac, a nonprofit that advocates for U.S. wartime allies. He said it's unknown how many Afghan allies have been detained by ICE officials.

As part of his asylum process, Naser was required to attend an in-person hearing last week in front of a judge and a lawyer from the Department of Homeland Security. But when Naser showed up to court, the DHS lawyer said that his case was "'improvidently issued."

"'Improvidently issued' is becoming ICE's new catch-all — a vague, unchallengeable justification being used to clear dockets and meet removal and detention quotas," said VanDiver. "It's being weaponized to put lawful, parole-compliant asylum-seekers in cells."

but but but I was told that Trump et al aren't xenophobic and just want to curtail illegal immigration!