A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's plan to deport dozens of Afghan immigrants detained in Louisiana, ordering that none of them be sent back to Afghanistan this week. The pause, issued by a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, comes as the administration had arranged a flight to send the group through Pakistan, where officials said Pakistan would oversee their expulsion across the border into Afghanistan.
The order came from Judge Valerie Caproni, who ruled that the United States could not send Afghan nationals to Afghanistan this week, according to The New York Times. Her order does not address the dangers deportees might face upon returning to Afghanistan, and it does not end the deportations altogether — it simply prevents sending any of the Afghans back until Sunday, when it expires. The detentions mark the administration's most expansive step so far to include Afghans in its wider immigration dragnet, the Times reported.
According to officials and court filings cited by the Times, the deportation flight had been scheduled to leave from Alexandria, Louisiana, early in November. Separately, a prior Times report indicated the Trump administration had detained dozens of Afghan immigrants in Louisiana based on accounts from three U.S. officials, and that the group included people who could face discrimination or persecution under Taliban rule — including relatives of people who helped the U.S. military and at least one gay man.
Conflicting Numbers on How Many Were Slated for Removal
Estimates of how many people were set to be deported vary across outlets. One U.S. official told the Times that more than 150 Afghan immigrants were expected to be deported, while a U.S. official told CBS News the administration planned to deport nearly 200 Afghan nationals by first sending them to Pakistan, according to CBS News. A letter from lawmakers cited by Al Jazeera put the number at a minimum of 150, saying advocacy groups reported that at least 150 Afghans were scheduled to be deported starting Tuesday, flown from detention facilities in Louisiana to Pakistan.
The same CBS News official said the plans and timing were still in flux, and that it remained unclear when the deportations could actually take place. It is not known whether the Afghan immigrants set for deportation have individual court protections that might otherwise bar their removal.
Lawmakers Call the Flight a Death Sentence
A group of 66 U.S. lawmakers has written to the Trump administration asking it to halt the planned mass deportation, according to Al Jazeera. Congressional Democrats who signed the letter called for the State Department and Department of Homeland Security to cancel the flight, describing deportation to Afghanistan as a death sentence for people likely to be targeted for suspected support of the U.S. government or criticism of the Taliban.
The United States has no diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, which has been governed by the Taliban since U.S. troops withdrew in August 2021, Al Jazeera noted. U.S. law prohibits deporting people to countries where courts have ruled they would most likely face persecution or torture — a standard at the center of the legal fight over this flight. The Department of Homeland Security declined to confirm removal operations, citing operational and security reasons, El Paso Matters reported.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Third-Country Deportations
The case fits into a larger pattern the administration has pursued throughout its deportation push. The Trump administration has deported thousands of immigrants to countries other than their own, according to ABC News, which also noted that Human Rights First has cited earlier removals involving Iranian nationals sent via Qatar and Kuwait, as well as a Russian political dissident sent via Egypt. The administration has made agreements with at least 35 countries to accept third-country nationals, per Al Jazeera's reporting, and nonprofits Refugees International and Human Rights First have tallied at least 25,000 people forcibly sent by the administration to third countries.
Pakistan's own role in the region's deportation landscape adds another layer to the story. Pakistan has sent approximately 2.5 million Afghans back to Afghanistan since September 2023, according to RFE/RL. Documents reviewed by the Associated Press similarly showed Afghans detained in the United States facing deportation to their home country via Pakistan.
For now, the court's order bars the Louisiana detainees from being sent back to Afghanistan until Sunday. What happens after the order expires — and whether any flight ultimately departs — remains unresolved.
