IF YOU ARE AN AFGHAN IN DETENTION
Do not sign anything you do not understand, and do not sign anything without a copy. Ask for a lawyer.
Tell us what happened at afghanevac.org/removal, so we can count it and fight the policy driving this.
Since October 13, detained Afghans with final orders of removal have been told the same thing in facility after facility: they will be moved to Louisiana and removed “early next month.”
In the same week, DHS cut the time a refugee has to fight termination of their status from 30 days to 10, the Supreme Court met to decide whether to hear a case AfghanEvac joined, and we started writing to every Afghan who has trusted us with their information since August 2021.
Our Afghanistan TPS Act fly-in, November 9 to 11 in Washington, needs you in the room.
Take the actions below, then read on.
ACTION THIS WEEK
If an Afghan you know is detained, tell us. It takes about three minutes.
Know your rights, now in Dari and Pashto. Our Know Your Rights training is at afghanevac.org/kyr with Dari and Pashto voiceover, and the translated slides go up this week. Share it with every Afghan family you know.
Attorneys, join Tuesday’s update. Tuesday, October 20, at 10:30 a.m. Pacific, I am briefing attorneys and accredited representatives on the transfers and removals we are tracking. Email me at shawn@afghanevac.org to register.
Lawyers, join Counsel Corps at afghanevac.org/counsel-corps. Several detained Afghans reported to us this week have no lawyer.
Join the fly-in, November 9 to 11. Register at afghanevac.org/tps-hill-day. We set up your meetings. You bring the story. Organizations that want to join forces, email me today.
Write your member of Congress today at afghanevac.org/tps. Ask them to sign the Afghanistan TPS Act discharge petition the day it opens. Anyone living in the United States can do it, citizen or not.
“EARLY NEXT MONTH”
Beginning October 13, Afghans in ICE detention began hearing the same message. They are being transferred to Louisiana, and they will be removed early next month.
Make no mistake about it — Afghans are being targeted by ICE.
Here is what we know so far. These are reports from attorneys, families, and advocates, and AfghanEvac is still verifying them. No one has reported seeing a flight manifest.
We have multiple reports spanning at least 10 facilities. The people reporting tell us at least 47 Afghans were given the same news at those facilities.
The largest group is at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, where up to 31 were told together. One man there learned of his removal while he was still at Moshannon Valley in Pennsylvania.
Reports have also come from Laredo, Texas; Otay Mesa, here in San Diego; Moshannon Valley, Pennsylvania; Folkston, Georgia; the Diamondback facility in Oklahoma; Chantilly, Virginia; and Adams County in Natchez, Mississippi, where one man was told he is headed to Alexandria, Louisiana.
Many were told they are going to Afghanistan. Two were not told where. Most were told “early next month,” and others were told this week, next week, or a specific date.
The signs repeat. Other Afghans told at the same time. Asked to sign travel papers or meet a consulate. Commissary accounts closed. Already moved to another facility. Phone or tablet access cut off.
Several have a final order of removal, and many already have a habeas petition or stay request on file. One has withholding of removal or CAT protection, which generally bars removal to Afghanistan and raises the risk of removal to a third country.
Many have no lawyer and were reported to us as needing one.
They came every way there is: across the southern border with a CBP One appointment and without one, on other visas, as a refugee, on a Special Immigrant Visa, and in the 2021 evacuation.
Removal to Afghanistan means removal to the Taliban. Some of these men and women served beside Americans, or are the family of those who did. Some have protection and / or asylum claims the government has never heard.
We have asked Senate offices to open congressional inquiries for detained constituents, and I briefed attorneys on October 14.
On Tuesday, October 20, at 10:30 a.m. Pacific, we are holding an update for attorneys and accredited representatives on what has changed since last week and what is working in court. To register, email me at shawn@afghanevac.org.
We want to hear about it every time an Afghan is detained. Whether you are family, a friend, or a lawyer, report it at afghanevac.org/removal, and attorneys, please do it before Tuesday. Names and A-numbers are optional and encrypted, and reports are deleted automatically within 60 days. We never share individual reports with ICE, DHS, or any other agency.
If your family member is detained, report it there, and we will ask your senators to open an inquiry.
Why it matters A removal flight is the one government action no court can undo after the fact. The weeks before it are when a lawyer, a stay motion, and a call from a Senate office still make the difference, and right now, too many of these folks have none of the three.
TEN DAYS TO SAVE YOUR STATUS
Last week I told you that if a refugee missed the 30-day window to answer a Notice of Intent to Terminate, USCIS could end their status without an interview and refer them to ICE.
That window is now 10 days. DHS announced the interim final rule on October 13, and it took effect immediately when it was published on October 14, with no public comment beforehand (Federal Register). My statement is at afghanevac.org/refugee-30-day.
The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) is leading the response to this rule, and it is the first place I would send anyone affected. IRAP has published:
An updated Refugee Revetting Toolkit for lawyers preparing clients
Legal information for refugees on revetting and detention, with a new guide in multiple languages on answering a Notice of Intent to Terminate coming soon
Ten days is not enough time to find a lawyer, gather records from a war zone, or even receive a letter at an old address. For the 23,261 Afghan refugees without green cards, a single missed envelope can now become a deportation case in under two weeks.
Why it matters If you are an Afghan refugee without a green card, update your address with USCIS today on Form AR-11. If you receive a notice, call a lawyer the same day, use IRAP’s guides, and request a Battle Buddy.
CHECKING IN WITH EVERYONE WE HAVE WORKED WITH
AfghanEvac wants to make sure that every person affected by the withdrawal and its aftermath is part of a living record that cannot be undermined or ignored. Toward that, we started writing to every Afghan who has emailed or interacted with AfghanEvac since August 2021.
The email comes in English, Dari, and Pashto, and it asks one question: what has happened to you and your family since then?
The survey takes about two minutes, and every question is optional. Emails are going out in batches. If you have not received yours but you want to tell us about your circumstances, start at checkin.afghanevac.org.
If you get an email from an address ending in afghanevac.org, it is from us. We will never ask for passwords or money.
Why it matters The answers I am already getting describe families still in Afghanistan, cases with no movement in years, and people who simply want someone to know they are still waiting. Every answer makes the record harder to ignore.
WITH OUR COMMUNITY IN SAN DIEGO
On Saturday, we held an emergency town hall with the Afghan community here in San Diego at one of our usual spots.
Families came with hard questions, and they deserved straight answers. We talked through the reports of transfers and removals, what the new 10-day rule means for refugees, how to request a Battle Buddy before any appointment, and why the check-in email from afghanevac.org is real.
Arwa Zakir Kakavand, a world-class immigration attorney from Casa Cornelia’s Community Legal Response Project spoke about pro bono legal service organizations and the need for everyone to know their rights.
Thank you to everyone who came. When people are scared, the most useful thing we can all do is be in the room with them, tell them what we know, and be honest about what we do not. And make sure everyone knows they need to talk to a qualified immigration attorney.
Why it matters The reports we are acting on this week started in rooms like this one. When families trust us with what is happening to them, we can count it, raise it with Congress, and get lawyers to the people who need them.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We passed out red cards to all who attended. Any non-profit organization can request up to 250 red cards from ILRC for free.
INTRODUCING AFGHANEVAC COUNSEL CORPS
Counsel Corps is AfghanEvac’s new program for attorneys and legal professionals who represent Afghan clients, or want to. It brings practitioners up to speed on the issues that keep coming up in Afghan cases, including removal defense and habeas cases.
Right now, that need is urgent. Several of the detained Afghans reported to us this week have no lawyer. If you can take a detained case, or want training to get there, start at afghanevac.org/counsel-corps.
Members also get JULIE, at julie.afghanevac.org, our free research tool and expert desk, including a running tracker of habeas orders. JULIE is in beta, so tell us what would make it more useful.
AfghanEvac is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.
THE SUPREME COURT ACTS MONDAY
On Friday, the Supreme Court met in conference to consider whether to hear A.A. v. Mast (No. 26-164). AfghanEvac joined an amicus brief with the Chamberlain Network and others urging the Court to take the case.
We should know this morning, when the Court releases its order list. If the Court grants review, the case moves to full briefing and argument on the merits.
Thank you to the team at Hogan Lovells for their work on the brief.
THE FLY-IN: WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 9 TO 11
The dates are set. From November 9 to 11, AfghanEvac is bringing Afghan allies, veterans, and supporters to Capitol Hill for our Afghanistan TPS Act fly-in, and I need you there.
The Afghanistan TPS Act is the single most important piece of legislation for our allies right now. Reps. Jason Crow and Sam Liccardo filed the special rule on October 1, and the discharge petition for H.R. 9899 opens after the election. It needs 218 signatures. Members sign discharge petitions when the people they represent are sitting across the table from them, and that is what a fly-in is for.
Here is how it works.
We set up your meetings with your own representative and senators, so you are talking to the offices that answer to you.
We prepare you with the ask, the facts, and the answers to the questions staff always raise. You do not need to be an expert. You need to be there.
You bring the story. The interpreter who saved your unit, the neighbor who lost her work permit, the family still waiting in Qatar. Afghan allies are the most powerful voices in the room.
Everyone living in the United States can take part, citizen or not.
Register at afghanevac.org/tps-hill-day. As of now, AfghanEvac cannot cover travel or lodging, so please plan accordingly. If that changes, you will hear it here first.
Organizations, throw in with us. If your organization wants to join the fly-in, bring members, co-sponsor, or support it another way, email me at shawn@afghanevac.org and tell me how you want to help.
Can’t make it to Washington? Write your member today at afghanevac.org/tps, and ask them to commit to signing the day the petition opens. We are asking key members directly whether they will sign.
Why it matters Whoever wins on November 3, Afghan allies wake up on November 4 without TPS. A discharge petition rewards the side that shows up, and November 9 is when we show up.
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH: 1,034 STILL WAITING
Three weeks ago, Secretary Rubio extended operations at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar for nine months.
Here is where the camp stands as of right now.
1,034 Afghan allies and family members are still there, and 427 of them are children.
833 are refugee cases. The other 201 are consular cases, nearly all of them Special Immigrant Visa holders and their families.
Every person in the camp has been there longer than 18 months. The longest has waited 1,689 days, since March 3, 2022.
Not one person has left the camp since October 1. Two babies have been born there in that time.
This year, 155 people have left the camp, and 122 of them were repatriated. Which is a nice way of saying they took the bribe the U.S. government offered them to return back to Afghanistan despite the danger they face rather than continue living in limbo at CAS.
Nine months is time, not a solution. It only counts as a win if the government uses it to redo medicals, finish processing, and move eligible cases now. So far, the camp is not moving.
Why it matters These families did everything the United States asked of them, and they have been waiting in a camp on a U.S. Army base for years. The extension stopped the clock on closure. It did not start the clock on getting them out.
BATTLE BUDDIES
Not one Afghan ally who walked in with a Battle Buddy has been detained or deported. That record still holds, including after deployments in Boston and San Diego this week.
We also launched a new system for deployments, and it now rewards the people who show up, with Battle Buddies gear. Veterans, frontline civilians, and evac volunteers, log in at dispatch.afghanevac.org, finish the training if you have not, and claim your first deployment.
If you have an appointment or court date coming up, request a Battle Buddy at afghanevac.org/battle-buddies. If you already asked, watch for our “Is your appointment still on?” email and confirm your date, so no one goes in alone.
COMING UP
October 19. Supreme Court order list in A.A. v. Mast.
October 20, 10:30 a.m. Pacific. Attorney update on Afghan transfers and removals. Email shawn@afghanevac.org to register.
October 25. Joint status report due to Judge Chutkan on SIV staffing.
November 3. Election Day.
November 9 to 11. Afghanistan TPS Act fly-in in Washington. Register at afghanevac.org/tps-hill-day.
IN THE NEWS
Stories from the past week.
Afghans facing removal
Refugees under review
Practice Alert: DHS Interim Final Rule Shortens NOIT Response Period for Refugees to 10 Days -- AILA
Trump Administration Lays Groundwork for Mass Deportation of Resettled Refugees -- IRAP
Trump Administration Cuts Refugees’ Deadline to Contest Status Termination, Raising Fears -- U.S. News & World Report
Trump’s refugee admissions overwhelmingly favored white South Africans -- Axios
Enforcement and detention
Local activists respond to reports of ICE enforcement surge -- KPBS
Supreme Court Dismisses ICE Detention Case, Preserving Due Process Protections as Broader Legal Battle Continues -- Davis Vanguard
Afghanistan and the region
Taliban suspends BBC Dari, Pashto, and English FM broadcasts across Afghanistan -- Committee to Protect Journalists
Kyrgyzstan Rejects Europe’s Proposal To Accept Afghan Refugees -- Afghanistan International
Afghanistan Records 36 Polio Cases In 2026, Says WHO -- Afghanistan InternationalEvery week I write to you about numbers. This week the numbers have names, and a date: early next month.
I cannot promise we will stop every flight. I can promise that no Afghan in detention will be invisible while we are counting, that no lawyer who wants to help will be turned away, and that no ally who asks for a Battle Buddy will walk in alone.
Report every detention. Answer your check-in. Join us Tuesday if you are a lawyer. Register for the fly-in.
We are furious. We are focused. And we are not going anywhere.