US Court Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration From Revoking Afghans’ Protected Status

A United States Appeals court on Monday provisionally blocked the Trump administration’s directive to remove the temporary protective status of thousands of Afghans in the United States, court documents showed. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals paused the termination granting a request from immigration advocacy organization Casa.

The stay will remain in effect until July 21. The lawsuit was filed against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that challenged the termination of temporary protected status for Afghans and Cameroonians unveiled by the administration in April. When the Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ended the temporary protected status for Afghans, the department wrote in the decision that the situation in their home country was getting better.

The DHS had ended the protective status of both Afghans and Cameroonians in May citing that they no longer merited the protection. The protection status for the Cameroonians is set to end on August 4. 

The status can be renewed by the homeland security secretary. Trump's effort to end most TPS enrollment during his first term from 2017 to 2021 was rejected by federal courts. 

CASA had filed an emergency motion for the stay on Monday, which was the last day that the Afghans had the protective status. The court has asked both sides to file briefs this week. 

The United States evacuated more than 82,000 Afghans from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021, of whom more than 70,000 entered the U.S. on temporary "parole," or legal entry for two years. The groups argue that since they helped the US during its war in Afghanistan, they would become targets of the Taliban upon return. The most vulnerable from this community are women, reported Reuters.