Global Refuge Decries Termination of Humanitarian Protections for Afghan Allies in the U.S.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 11, 2025

Contact: Timothy Young | timothy.young@globalrefuge.org

Baltimore, M.D. — Global Refuge expressed deep alarm today following reporting by The New York Times indicating that the Trump administration has terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of Afghanistan, a decision that puts more than 9,000 individuals at risk of deportation as early as May.

“TPS exists for a reason: to protect people whose return to their country would place them in grave danger. Afghanistan today is still reeling from Taliban rule, economic collapse, and humanitarian disaster. Nothing about that reality has changed,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Global Refuge. “Terminating protections for Afghans is a morally indefensible betrayal of allies who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us to advance American interests throughout our country’s longest war.”

TPS for Afghanistan was first designated in 2022 following the fall of Kabul, and extended in 2023 due to ongoing armed conflict, lack of access to basic services, and widespread displacement. The Department of Homeland Security's decision to terminate the designation would mark a stark departure from previous bipartisan commitments to safeguard Afghan allies and vulnerable civilians.

“For Afghan women and girls, ending these humanitarian protections means ending access to opportunity, freedom, and safety,” continued Vignarajah. “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.”

Global Refuge, one of the largest nonprofit refugee resettlement agencies in the U.S., is asking the administration to reverse course and urges Congress to take swift action by protecting the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program or passing a reintroduced Afghan Adjustment Act — bipartisan proposals that would provide pathways to lawful status for Afghans evacuated to the U.S.

“We cannot claim to be a nation that honors its promises while abandoning those we pledged to protect,” concluded Vignarajah.

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