Monday Morning Update -- July 21, 2025
EHC, CAS, and Forced Repatriations
Last week was a very busy week on the hill, around the world, and in the executive branch. Our pressure campaign is working (and we’d love you to lend your voice), Battle Buddies is going strong, and the United States Government keeps finding new and different ways to cause harm to our allies. That said, President Trump yesterday said that he was going to “try to save” those stuck at EHC and we are pushing for that help to include those at CAS.
What happened last week
Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Michael Rigas testified on Capitol Hill last week before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. A bipartisan group of lawmakers (Meeks, Huizenga, Lawler, Kamlager Dove, and Johnson) brought up Afghan relocations. We put together a compilation of the questions here. The Deputy Secretary seemed to not know a lot about the reality of what’s going on.
The United Arab Emirates are moving ahead with the forcible repatriation of guests at Emirates Humanitarian City. We have heard from a variety of sources that this method is likely to be used with CAS as well, which would look like Qatar using it’s authority to forcibly remove some or all from the camp. Congress, the press, and advocacy groups (led by AfghanEvac) are pushing hard to prevent that from happening. We understand this effort to be driven by DAS Mary Bischoping and PRM SBO Spencer Chretien.
Speaking of DAS Bischoping. We’ve heard from within the Department that she doesn’t like the pressure we’ve been adding and some have asked us to stop but have not offered any relief for our Afghans. If you work at the State Department and you don’t like being called out for the heinous things you are doing, the path forward is to stop doing the heinous things and not to start whining about a little sunlight. It’s in that spirit that we are spending this week talking about PRM SBO Spencer Chretien.
Battle Buddies Update: Over 630 veterans, civilians, and advocates from all 50 states and DC have stepped up to support Afghan allies through the Battle Buddies program, collectively bringing more than 7,200 years of service experience. With deep commitment across every military branch—and motivations rooted in justice, gratitude, and moral clarity—this community is ready to stand watch in courtrooms and communities across America.
Mike Waltz sat for his confirmation hearing last week and didn’t receive a single question on Afghanistan. That is a failure of Congress, full stop
On Sunday morning, President Trump posted on Truth Social that he was going to “save” the Afghans remaining at EHC. In all comments to the press on the matter we are lauding the President for engaging and requesting that he include those at CAS and other afghans languishing around the world in his efforts.
We sent a letter to State Department and DHS leadership requesting they NOT forcibly repatriate our colleagues at CAS.
The Bush Presidential Center, a long time partner to AfghanEvac and our allies, invited me to join their podcast this week. I hope i did the work we do together justice, you can listen here.
Another Afghan ally, Zia, got snatched up by ICE while attending court in Connecticut. Zia has COM approval and we will be talking about his case this week.
What to look for this week
There should be a ruling in the case regarding TPS (CASA vs Noem), which determines the fate of the TPS program for Afghans and Cameroonians.
In the Pacito case, the government is required to identify the cases that could be eligible this week.
It will be interesting to see how the President’s commitment to Afghan plays out. We are hopeful it is good news.
More news on Zia, Sayed, and other cases where iCE is snatching our allies from their court dates.
What we’re watching / reading
Exclusive: Trump pledged to save Afghans. But UAE had already sent some evacuees back, cable shows – Reuters
Local Afghan advocacy group calls Trump’s offer of help a ‘welcome surprise’ – 10 News San Diego
Secret Afghan relocation scheme set up after major data breach – BBC News
It’s going to be a busy week and you can make sure to follow along on social media as we tell the world about the decisions coming out of PRM, happenings in the court, and the training that we will be launching for battle buddies soon.Please do consider making a donationif you find value in the work we do.