Appeals Court Rules DHS Can End Temporary Protected Status for Afghans, Cameroonians

An appeals court judge on Monday lifted a lower court order preventing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ending federal temporary protected status (TPS) for Afghans and Cameroonians in the United States.

The DHS in April moved to end TPS for individuals from Afghanistan and Cameroon, saying conditions in their respective countries no longer merited the protected status.

However, the policy decision met with a legal challenge from CASA, an immigration advocacy organization, and was stayed by a court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted an administrative stay on the termination until July 21, which it has now said has expired.

DHS can now proceed to deport an estimated 14,600 Afghans who were granted TPS, and 7,900 Cameroonians face deportation after Aug. 4 when their TPS status expires.

The Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, in May said that, after consultation with the appropriate federal agencies, her department was due to review the conditions in countries designated to be eligible for offering TPS, and to determine whether the conditions have resolved or remain unsafe for protectees temporarily granted permission to live and work in the United States.

Noem at the time said she had decided to return the “TPS to its original temporary intent.”

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

“Additionally, the termination furthers the national interest as DHS records indicate that there are recipients who have been under investigation for fraud and threatening our public safety and national security. Reviewing TPS designations is a key part of restoring integrity in our immigration system,” Noem added.

Other nationalities facing the expiration of their temporary protection status in the United States include those from Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Honduras.

In the July 21 ruling, the appeals panel wrote “there is insufficient evidence to warrant the extraordinary remedy of a postponement of agency action pending appeal.”

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Epoch Times that the court ruling is “another win for the American people and the safety of our communities.”

“TPS was never intended to be a de facto asylum program, yet it has been abused as one for decades,” she said via email on the administration’s intention for ending the countries’ TPS.

“DHS records indicate that there are Afghan nationals who are TPS recipients who have been the subject of administrative investigations for fraud, public safety, and national security. This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary.”

According to the department, TPS holders can file for asylum.

Political Refugees in the UAE

These developments come as President Donald Trump, on July 20, acknowledged the plight of Afghan political refugees who had been granted refuge in the United Arab Emirates but are now facing the prospect of being returned to Afghanistan, where they risk facing political persecution by the ruling Taliban for having fought as allies of the United States in Afghanistan.

In the wake of the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden, nearly 200,000 Afghans were brought to the United States, and others were directed to nearby nations such as the UAE for refuge.

“I will try to save them, starting right now,” Trump said in a Truth Social post of the Afghan refugees at risk of repatriation.

This comes after nearly 2 million Afghan refugees were repatriated by Iran and Pakistan to their home country. Germany, meanwhile, repatriated 81 Afghans earlier this month.

With reporting from Joseph Lord.