U.S. Plans to Send Dozens Back to Afghanistan Despite Risk of Persecution
Deportation route through Pakistan
Officials described the deportation as effectively sending the group to Afghanistan. The detainees have also been told by ICE that they are being deported there. The route through Pakistan offers a way around barriers that have prevented vulnerable Afghans from being returned to face Taliban repression or retaliation.
Detainees could face persecution
The group includes people who may face discrimination or persecution under the Taliban. Among them are relatives of people who helped the U.S. military and at least one gay man.
The officials’ account and the planned transfer indicate the group would be sent to Afghanistan through Pakistan, rather than transported directly there. The article does not specify when the flights or border expulsions are expected to occur.
Mohammad describes his detention
Mohammad, 47, is among those marked for deportation. He said federal agents detained him last year while he was charging his electric car, and that he had been held in Oklahoma.
He said he was moved to a prison in Louisiana last week ahead of deportation, speaking by phone from the prison. Mohammad said his family fled Afghanistan as refugees in 1981, when he was 2, after the Soviet Union invaded.
Key points
- The administration plans to send dozens of Afghan immigrants from Louisiana to Pakistan, then across the border to Afghanistan.
- Three U.S. officials said the group includes people at risk of Taliban persecution.
- Relatives of U.S. military helpers and at least one gay man are among the detainees.
- Mohammad said he was detained last year and moved from Oklahoma to a Louisiana prison last week.