No One Left Behind's Statement on Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Afghanistan

On March 21, 2025, Secretary Noem decided to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Afghanistan, which wasn’t made public until April 21. However, the administration did not not put the requisite notice in the Federal Register until today (May 12, 2025).

Today, the Department of Homeland Security published the notice in the Federal Register with the 60 day window as indicated in CASA v Noem. As a result, TPS protections for Afghans will now expire on July 12, 2025.

No One Left Behind’s Statement: 

The Department of Homeland Security’s decision that “the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety” is glaringly unfounded. The extraordinary conditions in Afghanistan threatening those connected to the United States have only worsened since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

While the Federal Register Notice is important to allow immigration attorneys to advise impacted Afghans on next steps, 60 days notice does not negate the harm this decision can cause nor the alarming claim that Afghanistan is no longer exceptionally dangerous for our partners.

TPS remains critical for our Afghan allies evacuated during the fall of Afghanistan who are still in processing for their Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) status. Many of these allies completed the requisite substantial and valuable service to U.S. national security, yet are still in processing for an SIV because of documents and connections lost in the chaos of the U.S. withdrawal.

TPS appropriately provides a layer of stability for these vulnerable allies in recognition that returning Afghan allies to Afghanistan under the current regime would be a deadly failure to keep our promise. That protection will remain critical beyond July 12, and this decision throws our allies into harmful uncertainty. We are committed to working with the U.S. government to remedy this decision and ensure our allies are protected through TPS and the Afghan SIV program.