A U.S. Court of Appeals in the Fourth Circuit has placed a temporary hold on actions by President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aimed at terminating the Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for Afghan immigrants who arrived in the U.S. during Joe Biden’s presidency.
In May, Trump’s DHS announced plans to end TPS for around 75,000 Afghan immigrants who were resettled in the U.S. within a few months.
Casa, Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on immigrant rights, initiated a lawsuit against this decision.
The TPS was set to end on July 12, but the Court of Appeals has now intervened, stating that DHS must pause its actions and allowing both the Trump administration and CASA roughly a week to prepare a legal brief addressing the case.
Concerns about widespread fraud and abuse during the resettlement of Afghans were raised, with several instances coming to light from law enforcement and inspector generals.
One recent case involved a 27-year-old Afghan who was arrested in Oklahoma last year for allegedly plotting a terrorist attack on Election Day. This individual was part of the large resettlement effort initiated by Biden.
A former Department of Defense official revealed to Congress in April 2023 that some Afghans who resettled in the U.S. had connections to the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against American troops in Afghanistan.
Additionally, in 2021, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sought information regarding the number of Afghans on the federal government’s “no-fly list” due to ties to terrorism, but officials from Biden’s administration did not disclose the figures.
In September 2022, the DHS Inspector General released a troubling report indicating that Afghans were brought into the U.S. without proper vetting and could pose significant risks to national security.
Likewise, a February 2022 report from the DOD Inspector General stated that the Biden administration failed to properly assess Afghans that had been resettled, resulting in about 50 individuals being flagged as “serious security concerns” post-resettlement.
Reports indicated that many of the Afghans noted for possible terrorist connections have vanished into U.S. communities. By September 17, 2021, only three of the thirty-one flagged Afghans could be located.
In August 2022, Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) brought to light claims from whistleblowers who alleged that the Biden administration knowingly resettled 400 Afghans marked as “potential threats” and pressured staff to expedite the review process.
Furthermore, a May 2022 report from Project Veritas suggested that the Biden administration had resettled individuals listed on U.S. terrorist watch lists into communities across the country.
