Trump Slams Door On Afghan Asylum Seekers Fleeing Taliban

“We've reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation,” Noem said in May 2025 .“Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country.”

Most Afghans who have arrived in the US since 2021 share a fear of persecution by the Taliban . That includes people who worked for the former government, advocated for women's rights or worked with the US military in Afghanistan .

As a migration policy scholar , I believe the cancellation of TPS for these Afghans won't lead to voluntary repatriation, as the fear of persecution by the Taliban remains a serious concern for many.

Instead, it will likely force thousands of people into unlawful residency in the US. That, in turn, would not only leave thousands at risk of deportation but limit their employment opportunities in the US and keep them from financially supporting the families they left behind in Afghanistan.

Unlawful US residency can disqualify Afghans from accessing benefits such as Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families , a federal program that provides cash assistance and support services to low-income families with children.

For Afghan TPS holders without any other pending legal status – such as asylum claims, for example – the termination also means the loss of work authorization, as their employment authorization document was tied to having TPS. This can cut off thousands of Afghans from financial stability , according to the nonprofit group Global Refuge.

Many Afghans are likely to seek alternative legal pathways to remain in the US, most commonly through the already underresourced asylum process . For these people, the outlook looks daunting. Filing an asylum application with US Citizenship and Immigration Services means joining an unprecedented backlog.

At the end of 2024, nearly 1.5 million asylum applications were pending with USCIS , according to the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit advocacy organization. Most applicants faced estimated wait times of up to six years for a decision.

Asylum applicants are allowed to remain in the US while their application is pending. And they can apply for work authorization, but only after the asylum application has been pending for at least 150 days. However, the work authorization is not issued until a minimum of 180 days has passed since filing for asylum.

So Afghan nationals applying for asylum following the TPS termination face a mandatory six-month period without legal work authorization. This period can stretch even longer, depending on how long it takes applicants to retain an attorney and complete the complex application process.

Like many forcibly displaced populations, Afghans often arrive in the US with extremely limited financial resources .

Forced migration is typically abrupt and unplanned, leaving little opportunity to liquidate assets or withdraw funds. The small amount of cash or valuables that this population manages to carry is often just enough to reach immediate safety .

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Against this background, the ability to work is a critical issue for Afghans in the US. Most Afghans in the US are also supporting older parents and immediate or extended family members in Afghanistan, according to unpublished research I'm conducting with my colleagues, Proscovia Nabunya and Nhial Tutlam . This makes timely access to legal employment not only a matter of survival for themselves but also a lifeline for loved ones left behind.

TPS was never intended as a long-term solution. And the number of Afghan nationals who held it as their sole legal status in the US was relatively small – estimated at around 8,000 – compared with the over 180,000 Afghans who have arrived in the US since 2021 .

What is more concerning for Afghans in the US, however, are the government's assertions surrounding the termination of TPS for this group. If the US government now maintains that Afghanistan is safe for return, it raises concerns about how this stance may influence the adjudication of Afghan asylum claims.

Although most Afghan asylum applications are grounded in a combination of factors – fears based on nationality, ethnicity, religion and political opinion – labeling Afghanistan as safe for return could undermine claims that rely on nationality as a central basis for protection.

Mitra Naseh is assistant professor of migration, Washington University in St. Louis

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

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