Afghans in the United States and Pakistan are facing the prospect of being sent back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan for good.
The Trump administration has terminated temporary deportation protections for thousands of Afghans in the US, a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said on Friday, building on US President Donald Trump's far-reaching immigration crackdown.
An estimated 14,600 Afghans eligible for temporary protected status (TPS) will now lose it in May.
Mr Trump took office in January pledging to deport record numbers of migrants in the US illegally.
At the same time, he has swiftly moved to strip migrants of temporary legal protections, expanding the pool of possible deportees.
Mr Trump, a Republican, has criticised high levels of illegal immigration under Democratic former president Joe Biden and said his programs offering legal status overstepped the bounds of the law.
What is temporary protection status?
The TPS program is available to people in the US whose home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event.
The status lasts 6-18 months, can be renewed by the Homeland Security secretary, and offers deportation protection and access to work permits.
Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem found that the conditions in Afghanistan and Cameroon no longer merited the protected status, spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Mr Trump tried to end most TPS enrolment during his 2017-2021 presidency but was thwarted by federal courts.
A US district judge in late March blocked his attempt at ending the status for Venezuelans, saying that officials' characterisation of the migrants as criminals "smacks of racism".
Advocates have said in recent days that migrants who entered the US via a Biden-era app known as CBP One, including Afghans, have been receiving notices revoking their temporary "parole" and giving them seven days to leave the country.
Ms McLaughlin confirmed this week that the department had revoked some migrants' parole, saying DHS was "exercising its discretionary authority".
She did not provide the number of revocations.
"Affected aliens are urged to voluntarily self-deport using the CBP Home App," she said in a statement.
The notices mirror messages sent in error last week to Ukrainians.
Pakistan tells Afghans to leave or face arrest
Meanwhile, in Pakistan, Afghans are being told they are unwelcome.
Thousands of Afghans are feeling the pressure as the government asks them to leave, or face arrest then deportation.
Convoys of Afghans are driving to the border, fearing the "humiliation" of arrest, as the government's crackdown sees widespread public support.
Islamabad wants to deport 800,000 Afghans after cancelling their residence permits — the second phase of a deportation program that has already pushed out about 800,000 undocumented Afghans since 2023.
According to the UN refugee agency, more than 24,665 Afghans have left Pakistan since April 1, a little less than half of whom were deported.
Abdul Shah Bukhari, a community leader in one of the largest informal Afghan settlements in the coastal city, has watched multiple buses leave daily for the Afghan border, about 700 kilometres away.
The maze of makeshift homes has grown over decades with the arrival of families fleeing successive wars in Afghanistan.
But now, he said, "people are leaving voluntarily".
Human Rights Watch has slammed "abusive tactics "used to pressure Afghans to return to their country, " where they risk persecution by the Taliban and face dire economic conditions".
Politics at play
After decades of hosting millions of Afghan refugees, there is widespread support among the Pakistani public for the deportations.
"They eat here, live here, but are against us. Terrorism is coming from there (Afghanistan), and they should leave; that is their country. We did a lot for them," said Pervaiz Akhtar, a university teacher in Islamabad.
His views echo those of the Pakistani government, which for months has blamed rising violence in the border regions on "Afghan-backed perpetrators" and argued that the country can no longer support such a large migrant population.
However, analysts have said the deportation drive is political.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have soured since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
"The timing and manner of their deportation indicates it is part of Pakistan's policy of mounting pressure on the Taliban," said Maleeha Lodhi, the former permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN.
"This should have been done in a humane, voluntary and gradual way," she said.
ABC/wires
