A federal judge in New York temporarily blocked president Donald Trump’s administration's plans to deport more than 150 Afghans detained in the United States to Afghanistan or Pakistan on Tuesday, after advocates and dozens of members of Congress warned that their lives would be at risk.
The government told the court on Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had no chartered or commercial flights for deporting Afghan nationals to Afghanistan or to Pakistan at least until the end of the week.
In an order dated 3 November, US district judge Valerie Caproni wrote the government "has effectively represented that no Afghanistan nationals will be deported from the United States to Afghanistan or Pakistan this week".
Judge Caproni’s order, which expires Saturday, asks all officials to adhere to that. ICE books the flights weeks in advance.
The judge, however, did not address the dangers that await them upon landing in Afghanistan.
Earlier on Monday, a letter led by Mr Peters and signed by 65 other members of the House and Senate said they were “extremely concerned that sending vulnerable people” would expose them to “persecution, torture, or even death”. The letter was sent on Monday to secretary of state Marco Rubio and homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin.
The lawmakers cited reports by advocacy groups as saying at least 150 Afghans were scheduled to be deported from Tuesday, though some media reports suggested the number could be closer to 200.
The flights to deport the Afghans was slated to leave Alexandria early this month, according to filings in court, reported the New York Times.
Some of the refugees set to be deported have already run out of the legal options and the courts have limited authority to intervene, the Trump administration argued.
Among those in the list of Afghans set to be cast out of the country include a woman, a gay man, a US official and a person whose relative helped the US military.
Homosexuality is deemed sinful under Sharia law, women face severe restrictions, and the Taliban have gone after individuals who worked for the US and Nato forces.
The deportees also include a former university student who was brutally assaulted and his family harassed by the Taliban who accused him of helping their “enemies”.
According to his testimony, armed men carried him away from his home and for over a week, beat him, until the bones in his foot broke, reported USA Today, while withholding the man’s identity. His home was raided by Taliban after he fled, with officials haranguing his father about the whereabouts.
“If I return," he had told the court, "they will kill me”.
Lawyers argued against the mass expulsion of Afghans to Pakistan, which is now at war with Afghanistan. They said that the conflict puts the deported Afghans at risk of persecution, which is in violation of international treaties that the US has signed.
"Our nation made a promise to stand by the Afghans who risked their lives and their family safety for us," Scott Peters, the California Democrat who led the letter, said at a news conference on 3 November. "Sending them to the Taliban breaks that promise."
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said ICE “does not comment on prospective removal operations, including flight schedules, passenger manifests, destinations or individual case details”.
According to a 2025 memo from the department, in the instances of third-country deportation from the US, the foreign government has to give a diplomatic assurance against the persecution.
Immigrant rights organisations have also warned that those deported could face retaliation from the Taliban.
According to court documents obtained by the Associated Press, the US planned to deport Afghan immigrants on Monday on flights from Louisiana, where ICE has immigrant detention and processing facilities, to Pakistan.
The Trump administration has deported thousands of immigrants to countries other than their own.
In some cases, it has resorted to third-country deportations when removal to their countries of origin was not possible, like when formal diplomatic relations were absent, as is the case with Afghanistan’s Taliban government. In other instances, third-country deportations have been used as a deterrent.
Advocates and attorneys said that more than 80 detained Afghans had contacted them after ICE notified them that they could be deported this week via Pakistan. Most fled Afghanistan because of persecution and do not have legal representation, according to Human Rights First and AfghanEvac, a nonprofit organisation that advocates for immigrants.
Before the judge signed her order, Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesperson of foreign ministry, said “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan expresses its serious concern" about the reports that US plans to transfer Afghans to Pakistan.
Mr Takal called on the US to make sure that decisions or actions are based on rights and “legitimate demands” of those involved, and said “third-party countries should not engage in dealings concerning the fate of another nation’s citizens”.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said Taliban authorities urged "the United States of America to adopt a responsible and measured approach in this regard and to take any decisions and measures regarding the fate of Afghan citizens with clear mutual understanding, necessary coordination, and consideration of the rights and legitimate demands of the individuals concerned".
"The Afghan side is ready to interact in this regard in a practical and mutually understanding manner," he added.
“Today is a good day,” Shawn VanDiver, president at AfghanEvac, said at a news conference. “But I want to be honest with you, this is a reprieve, not a resolution. We haven’t stopped this fight forever. This is just a pause.”
“The stakes were very, very high,” Savitri Arvey, director of policy, refugee and immigrant rights for Human Rights First said.
Advocates expressed their concerns about the role of the Pakistani government in facilitating the returns to Afghanistan and the fact that there is no information about the arrangements that the US has made with Pakistan.
“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,” Ms Arvey said.
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