The Trump administration is preparing to deport over 150 Afghan immigrants from Louisiana to Pakistan, where they are widely expected to be expelled to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Because Washington lacks direct diplomatic ties with the Taliban, officials are using Pakistan as a third-country workaround. The deportees include relatives of Afghans who assisted U.S. forces and an LGBTQ+ national. Rights groups and Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Richard Blumenthal warn the move exposes allies to severe risk of torture or execution.
Plans to deport Afghans via Pakistan
- ▪Advocacy group AfghanEvac confirmed that at least 80 Afghan immigrants were transferred to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center from 34 separate ICE facilities across the United States in late October 2026
- ▪Because the United States lacks formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban government, the Trump administration is routing Afghan deportees through Pakistan to bypass direct deportation restrictions to Afghanistan
- ▪The Department of Homeland Security and ICE declined to confirm prospective removal operations or flight schedules for the planned Afghan deportation to Pakistan, citing operational security reasons
- ▪The Donald Trump administration is preparing to deport more than 150 Afghan immigrants from the United States to Pakistan on a flight as early as November 2, 2026
Vulnerable Afghans targeted for deportation
- ▪At least one LGBTQ+ Afghan national and individuals with pending U.S. asylum claims are among those scheduled for deportation on the U.S. charter flight to Pakistan carrying more than 150 Afghans
- ▪A U.S. citizen named Charlotte reported that her Afghan husband, detained since early 2025 following a traffic stop, was moved from Pennsylvania to Louisiana for deportation despite a pending nine-year asylum case
- ▪Afghans scheduled for deportation from Louisiana include relatives, brothers, and sons of individuals who assisted U.S. military forces and aid organizations during the 20-year war against the Taliban
Condemnation of the Afghan deportation plan
- ▪Senator Richard Blumenthal stated that the Trump administration is betraying its promise to Afghan wartime allies by deporting them to potential torture and death
- ▪AfghanEvac president Shawn VanDiver stated that deporting Afghan wartime allies to Pakistan effectively surrenders them to Taliban persecution and harms U.S. national security by discouraging future international military cooperation
- ▪Senator Jeanne Shaheen criticized the Trump administration's deportation plan as reprehensible and called on Congress to oppose returning Afghan allies, women, and children to Taliban control via Pakistan
- ▪Human Rights First president Uzra Zeya and Global Refuge president Krish O'Mara Vignarajah condemned the Trump administration's third-country removal plan as a deliberate effort to send vulnerable refugees into active danger zones
Third-country deportation policy and legal challenges
- ▪The Trump administration has deported thousands of immigrants to third countries where they have no ties, including several nations in Africa
- ▪The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear legal arguments in December 2026 regarding the legality of the Trump administration's third-country deportation agreements with countries such as Kuwait, Qatar, and Pakistan
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