President Donald Trump has ended temporary deportation protections for tens of thousands of Afghans and Cameroonians in the US.
Nearly 15,000 Afghans and 8,000 Cameroonians in the US will now lose their protected status by June, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday.
The Temporary Protected Status program is available to people whose home countries experience a natural disaster, conflict or other extraordinary circumstances. TPS lasts between 6-18 months and can be renewed by the Homeland Security secretary. It offers a variety of benefits, including protection against deportation and access to work permits.
More than 80,000 Afghans were evacuated from their home country to the US after the withdrawal in 2021. Around 70,000 who entered the US were granted temporary parole, which allowed entry for a period of two years. The DHS extended TPS to many Afghans, saying that the country’s ongoing insurgency warranted the move.
During his first presidency, Trump tried to end virtually all TPS enrolment, by the was blocked by federal courts. In March, a district judge blocked his attempt to end the status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the US, claiming that his attempt to characterize many of them as criminals was “racist.”
Migrants who entered the US via the government’s CBP One app, including Afghans, have started receiving notifications telling them their parole has been withdrawn and that they have seven days to leave the country.