Key takeaways:
- A U.S. official told CBS News that plans involving nearly 200 Afghan detainees remain in flux.
- An ICE officer said in a sworn declaration that a planned flight would land in Pakistan before onward transport to Afghanistan.
- Sixty-six lawmakers urged the administration to halt deportation flights involving Afghans and Iranians.
The Trump administration is planning to fly Afghan detainees to Pakistan for onward transfer to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, according to a U.S. official and a sworn court declaration. The proposal has prompted 66 members of Congress to demand a halt to the flights, warning that some deportees could face persecution because of their ties to the United States.
A U.S. official told CBS News the plans involve nearly 200 Afghans in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody who are accused of violating immigration law. The official said the arrangements remain in flux and it is unclear when the deportations would occur. Al Jazeera reported that the lawmakers’ letter cited advocacy groups saying at least 150 Afghans faced deportation beginning Tuesday, Nov. 3, on flights from Louisiana to Pakistan.
The route was described in an Oct. 30 declaration filed by Sergio Aguilar, an ICE supervisory detention and deportation officer, in a federal case involving Afghan national Said Mansor Sadat. Aguilar said he initially understood that a charter flight would land in Afghanistan but later learned it would go to Pakistan.
“The plane’s final destination would be Pakistan with further transport onward to Afghanistan,” Aguilar wrote. He said Afghanistan remained the intended destination under Sadat’s removal order.
Sadat’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said Sadat and another Afghan client were independently told they would be flown to Pakistan and taken overland to the Afghan border. “They were not told who would be taking them overland and in what manner,” he told CBS News. Sadat was later removed from the flight list and released from ICE custody after a judge ruled his continued detention violated his due process rights. His lawyer said the second client was awaiting a decision on an emergency request to block his removal as of Monday night.
In their letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, the lawmakers said some of those facing deportation had worked alongside coalition forces in Afghanistan. Sending people back where they could be targeted for their own or their families’ suspected support for the United States “is a death sentence,” they wrote. “Our country made a promise never to abandon the Afghans who sacrificed their own and their family’s safety to stand with American service members.” The lawmakers also called for a halt to deportation flights involving Iranians, CBS News reported.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to discuss the planned flights, citing operational security. A spokesperson told CBS News that people sent to third countries receive notice and assurances before removal and that ICE obtains diplomatic assurances about their safety. The department did not say whether Pakistan had provided assurances for these flights or whether any would cover onward travel to Afghanistan. “When an individual is no longer in ICE custody, ICE is no longer responsible for them,” the spokesperson said.
Afghanistan’s Taliban-led Foreign Ministry urged coordination and respect for Afghan citizens’ rights and dignity. The United States suspended operations at its Kabul embassy in 2021 and has no official diplomatic relations with the Taliban government. Separate federal courts in Texas and Louisiana have denied emergency requests from Afghan detainees seeking to stop possible removals, CBS News reported.
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