U.S. Plans to Fly Detained Afghan Immigrants to Pakistan
The Trump administration plans to fly Afghan immigrants who are detained in Louisiana to Pakistan, according to The New York Times. The same report says the United States plans to send dozens of Afghan refugees back to Afghanistan.
The people in question are being held in immigration custody. Their detention is carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency that enforces immigration law and holds people while their cases are handled. Those held by ICE have been notified that they could be deported to Pakistan, Amu TV reported. Amu TV is an Afghan news outlet.
Pakistan shares a long border with Afghanistan, and the two countries are neighbours in South Asia. The arrangements are plans, and the flight is something the administration intends to carry out rather than something that has already taken place. Notices of possible deportation can change as individual cases move through the system.
The plans involve people who are not American citizens and who came to the United States from Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been under Taliban control since 2021, when the group took power as foreign forces withdrew. Many Afghans have sought protection abroad since then, and their status in the United States has been the subject of continuing policy debate.
For now, the core facts are these: the administration plans to move Afghans held in Louisiana to Pakistan, a separate plan would return dozens of Afghan refugees to Afghanistan, and Afghans in ICE custody have been told a Pakistan deportation is possible.
