Afghans in the US have lost protected status. What happens now?

Summary

Summary of NPR's "Consider This" Episode: Afghans in the US Have Lost Protected Status. What Happens Now?

Release Date: June 19, 2025
Host: Mary Louise Kelly and Monika Evstatieva
Podcast: Consider This by NPR

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Introduction

In this poignant episode of NPR's Consider This, hosts Mary Louise Kelly and Monika Evstatieva delve into the dire circumstances faced by Afghans residing in the United States following the revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) by the Trump administration. The episode sheds light on personal stories, legal challenges, and the broader implications of recent immigration policy changes on individuals who sought refuge in the US.

The Harrowing Journey of Zee

The episode opens with the distressing experience of Zee, an Afghan woman who received a life-altering email from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS):

Mary Louise Kelly [00:00]: "It's time for you to leave the United States."

Zee, a dedicated emergency room nurse in Afghanistan, had to flee her homeland due to the Taliban's oppressive regime, which severely restricted women's rights. Her ordeal began when Taliban soldiers confronted her, demanding she leave the country:

Zee [00:50]: "Just go back. You don't want to go. I will kill you."

Fearful for her safety and that of her two children, whom she had to leave behind with her parents, Zee embarked on a perilous journey from Afghanistan to the US via Brazil and Mexico. She secured entry into the US on humanitarian parole, allowed to stay while her asylum application was processed under TPS.

Policy Changes Threaten Afghans in the US

In early May, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the termination of TPS for Afghans, effective July 14:

Monika Evstatieva [05:00]: "In early May, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the termination of TPS for Afghanistan..."

Noem justified the decision by citing an "improved security situation" and a "stabilizing economy" in Afghanistan. However, Zee and others argue that these claims starkly contrast with the on-the-ground realities.

Legal Perspectives and Propaganda Concerns

Brian Greene, a seasoned immigration lawyer from Denver, critiques the administration's stance:

Brian Greene [05:29]: "A person that leaves the country through fear is accomplishing the administration's current goal."

He further labels the DHS email as propaganda rather than a legitimate legal notice:

Brian Greene [05:48]: "So if someone has an I589 asylum application pending, they can stay in the United States while that court case is going forward."

Greene emphasizes that individuals with pending asylum applications retain their right to remain in the US, challenging the administration's narrative.

Personal Stories Amid Policy Shifts

The episode also features the story of "A," an Afghan engineer who worked on US-funded construction projects in Kabul. Facing the Taliban's repressive measures, especially towards women and educated men, A fears for his family's safety:

A [06:55]: "Most of my children are daughters and for girls in Afghanistan it's not safe at all. They will not have a future over there..."

Despite having legal status and an ongoing asylum application, A remains anxious due to restrictive rhetoric and new executive actions limiting Afghan immigration.

On-the-Ground Realities in Afghanistan

Abdul Faraji, an investigative journalist from Afghanistan, provides a grim overview of the current situation:

Abdul Faraji [10:41]: "When we are talking about food in Afghanistan as just having a bread with a sweet tea, those people living with nothing."

Faraji disputes the DHS's claim of economic stabilization, highlighting rampant poverty, food scarcity, and the proliferation of terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. He warns that:

Abdul Faraji [11:08]: "Al Qaeda is there. ISIS is there. Please, people of United States, don't forget 9/11. It was not just for Afghanistan. This fight was for freedom. This fight was for democracy."

Implications of Revoked TPS and Travel Bans

The termination of TPS, coupled with the Trump administration's travel bans targeting Afghanistan, serves a dual purpose: deporting Afghans currently in the US and deterring future immigrants. Abdul Faraji criticizes these measures as not only unfounded but also perilously ignoring the ongoing instability and threats within Afghanistan.

Abdul Faraji [10:32]: "Afghanistan right now is kind of a jail for all those people that are living there..."

Conclusion

The episode concludes by reiterating the precarious position of Afghans in the US who had sought refuge from Taliban oppression. With TPS revoked and travel bans in place, individuals like Zee and A face uncertain futures, battling between the fear of persecution at home and the challenges of navigating an increasingly hostile immigration landscape in the US.

Produced by: Noah Caldwell and Megan Lim
Edited by: Barry Hardiman, Sarah Handel, and William Troup
Executive Producer: Sammy Yenigun

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This episode of Consider This underscores the human cost of immigration policy changes, highlighting the urgent need for compassionate and informed decision-making to protect those who have already sacrificed so much in seeking safety and a better life.

Transcript

[Mary Louise Kelly]

It's time for you to leave the United States. That is the first sentence Zee read when she opened an email from the Department of Homeland Security. It said she had to leave the country in seven days.

[Zee]

11:30. I saw that email. I couldn't sleep. Like it was scary. What should I do? Should I call? To who?

[Mary Louise Kelly]

We're only using Z's first initial to protect her identity because she fears reprisal in Afghanistan and does not want to jeopardize her immigration case. Z worked for years as an emergency room nurse in Afghanistan, a job she loved until the Taliban came to power and reintroduced a strict form of Islam where women have few rights. One day, Taliban soldiers pulled her off a bus on her way to work and began to scream at her.

[Zee]

Just go.

[Monika Evstatieva]

Just go.

[Zee]

Why you don't have laundries? Why you don't have a hijab? You don't have a mahram. Mahram. It means you don't have a man. They said you have to go back. Just go back. You don't want to go. I will kill you.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Zee was scared. She didn't have a male chaperone. She had divorced her husband when he became a drug addict and she was raising their two children on her own. The harassment continued. Z took a higher paying job in a different city and left her children with her parents. She rented an apartment by herself, also forbidden for women under Taliban rule. One night, Min came to her home at 1am banging on the door.

[Zee]

Just like that. Open, open the door. Open the door. I was just wake up. I was scared. I was in the shock.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Z woke up terrified and asked her downstairs neighbor to pretend to be her husband. But the Taliban were not fooled.

[Zee]

It searched all place. When I saw me, why you are living alone? They know about me.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

She was able to avoid capture, but her parents told her she might not be as lucky the next time the Taliban came. Z had also worked at a foreign funded hospital, another factor that made her a target.

[Zee]

When I talked with my parents, they said, yeah, you have to go.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Zee left Afghanistan through Iran where she got a visa to travel to Brazil. From there it was a grueling three month journey, often on foot to Mexico. Then last year, she had an interview with US border agents and came into the country legally on a humanitarian parole. But now Xi is scared. The Trump administration has revoked the temporary protected status designation for people like Xi and imposed a new travel ban on Afghanistan. Options are dwindling for Afghans here on humanitarian parole. Consider this, many Afghans who helped the US after 911 found refuge here from the Taliban. What happens now that they have lost protected status? From npr, I'm Mary Louise Kelly.

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[Abdul Faraji]

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[Brian Greene]

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[Monika Evstatieva]

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[Mary Louise Kelly]

It'S consider this from npr. When Z arrived at the US Border, she was allowed to enter and stay in the US While her asylum application was processed. That is because Afghans were granted Temporary Protected Status, tps. That means they can live in the US and get a work permit because of unrest and persecution in their home country. Zee is now settled in the U.S. she's a nurse assistant at an American hospital. She sends money back to Afghanistan to support her kids. NPR's Monika Evstatieva picks up Z's story from here.

[Monika Evstatieva]

In early May, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the termination of TPS for Afghanistan, effective July 14. Noem said an improved security situation in addition to a stabilizing economy means Afghans can return home. Z says going back to Afghanistan is.

[Zee]

Not an option we cannot go for working for teachers like doctors, nothing when they go outside, maybe they kill Every.

[Brian Greene]

Person that leaves the country through fear is accomplishing the administration's current goal.

[Monika Evstatieva]

Brian Greene is a longtime immigration lawyer based in the Denver suburbs.

[Brian Greene]

Everyone that leaves voluntarily is cheap for the government, and it makes the Trump administration's goal of removing a million people.

[Monika Evstatieva]

He says the email Z received telling her she had to leave in seven days is not a legal document.

[Brian Greene]

It's propaganda. So if someone has an I589 asylum application pending, they can stay in the United States while that court case is going forward.

[Monika Evstatieva]

When asked about the decision to end Afghan's TPS protection, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement to NPR. Although TPS was terminated as required by law, any Afghan who fears persecution is able to request asylum. DHS estimates There are approximately 12,000 Afghans on TPS in the United States. Many of them are part of a group that helped the US after 911 and are now being hunted by the Taliban. Greene says Afghans are now at an even higher risk if they have to go back.

[Brian Greene]

It's worse for someone who's Afghan, who's been in the United States, who probably has an education and for Afghan women that have work experience. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. And that's what America is supposed to do, is protect people that helped us.

[Monika Evstatieva]

A is one such person who helped the US during the war. We are using his first initial because he fears retribution in Afghanistan and doesn't want to jeopardize his status here. He also received the DHS email telling him he had to leave the United States. A left when the Taliban came to power. He worked as an engineer in Kabul on construction contracts for the US Government and knew he would be a target. He also worried for his kids who could be kidnapped and sexually abused by the Taliban. The Taliban take the girls and boys for their own pleasure and as a father I have no and for no reason. They just come and take your kids by force. A a father of six says he wants his four daughters to be able to get an education and live peacefully, which is not possible in Afghanistan. Most of my children are daughters and for girls in Afghanistan it's not safe at all. They will not have a future over there and I don't want to destroy my girls future going back over there. A is also in the middle of an application for asylum and has legal status. But he's still worried about the rhetoric from the Trump administration and new executive actions have now further restricted Afghans from coming to the United States.

[Abdul Faraji]

Very simply, we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who.

[Monika Evstatieva]

Seek to enter the United States. In June, President Trump banned travelers from 12 countries that posed a very high risk to the United States and included Afghanistan on that list. The administration cited the country for the lack of a competent authority for issuing passports and appropriate screening and vetting measures. But Green, the immigration lawyer, says security screening is not done on the Afghan site anyway. Everyone that applies for a visa gets a background check, a name check with.

[Brian Greene]

The FBI, so that work all happens while someone is waiting outside the United States. They don't get the visa until they pass all that screening. And if someone doesn't pass the background inspection there, they put them in what's called secondary inspection. They don't let you in until you pass at least two screenings, if not more so. I think it's hypocritical to say that it's safe enough to end tps, but it's dangerous enough that we don't want any students or any foreign workers that are screened and approvable.

[Monika Evstatieva]

The end of the TPS program, along with the new travel ban, served not only as an effort to deport Afghans already in the US but to restrict any from coming in the future. Abdul Faraji is an investigative journalist from Afghanistan. He agrees all these measures make little sense and overlook a worsening situation on the ground. He says the country no longer has a free media and life inside has become oppressive.

[Abdul Faraji]

Afghanistan right now, it's kind of a jail for all those people that they are living there. For women, they don't have their rights. They're not allowed to go to just park. They're not allowed to go outside without a man to just buy something. For men, they're not allowed to shave their beards without Taliban permission. That's not even a jail. That's like more than a jail. You're just alive and somewhere to be alive.

[Monika Evstatieva]

DHS revoked TPS partly based on a claim that Afghanistan's economy is stabilizing. Faraji says the opposite is true.

[Abdul Faraji]

When we are talking about food in Afghanistan as just having a bread with a sweet tea, those people living with nothing.

[Monika Evstatieva]

Sanctions, limited investment and the inability of women to work have left Afghan men struggling to provide basic food for their families. DHS touted a, quote, improved security situation, but Faraji says there are over a dozen terrorist organizations now operating freely in Afghanistan.

[Abdul Faraji]

Al Qaeda is there. ISIS is there. Please, people of United States, don't forget 9, 11. It was not just for Afghanistan. This fight was for freedom. This fight was for democracy.

[Monika Evstatieva]

Faraj says terminating TPS not only ignores the reality on the ground, but also the growing threat of terrorism. The consequences he fears could extend far beyond Afghanistan.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

NPR's Monica Evstatieva reporting. This episode was produced by Noah Caldwell and Megan Lim. We got engineering help from Ted Mebane. It was edited by Barry Hardiman, Sarah Handel and William Troup. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigun. It's consider this from NPR. I'm Mary Louise Kelly.

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