Trump administration ends Temporary Protected Status for thousands of Afghans and Cameroonians

The Trump administration is ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Afghans who entered the United States following the troubled and controversial withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. At the time, this represented the first foreign policy failure of the Joe Biden administration. The measure will also affect some 7,000 Cameroonians.

Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told Reuters that Secretary Kristi Noem determined that the situation in Afghanistan and Cameroon no longer meets the standards necessary to maintain TPS for citizens of those countries.

"The Secretary determined that Afghanistan no longer continues to meet the statutory requirements for its TPS designation and so she terminated TPS for Afghanistan," McLaughlin said in a statement.

TPS, an immigration protection status granted to people from countries affected by war, natural disasters or other circumstances that endanger their safety upon return, generally lasts six to 18 months and is renewed at the discretion of DHS.

Shawn VanDriver, former military and president of the #AfghanEvac organization, told NPR that the Trump administration is misguided in its disposition and assessment of the situation in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

"The conditions on the ground haven't improved — they've worsened," VanDriver told NPR. "Afghans who were invited here, who built lives here, are now being told they don't matter. It's cruel, it's chaotic, and it undermines everything America claimed to stand for when we promised not to leave our allies behind."

The move comes at a time when the Trump administration is pursuing a campaign of mass deportations that includes the dismantling of immigration protection programs, such as TPS.

Last month, a federal judge delayed an attempt by the Trump administration to revoke TPS for Venezuelans.

The U.S. Department of State lists both Afghanistan and Venezuela as "Level 4: Do Not Travel" countries due to the risk of arbitrary detentions, civil unrest and kidnappings.