The Trump administration has officially ended temporary deportation protections for thousands of Afghans and Cameroonians living in the United States, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed on Friday. The move marks a continuation of President Trump’s broader immigration crackdown.
Approximately 14,600 Afghans who were eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will lose their protections in May, while around 7,900 Cameroonians will see their status revoked in June.
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump—who has made immigration a central focus of his presidency—has taken aggressive steps to increase deportations and dismantle temporary legal protections for migrants. He has also criticized the high levels of illegal immigration during the Biden administration and claimed that some programs offering legal status under President Biden exceeded legal authority.
TPS is a humanitarian program that offers temporary legal status, deportation relief, and work permits to individuals from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary crises. The status typically lasts from six to eighteen months and can be renewed at the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security.
According to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, Secretary Kristi Noem concluded that current conditions in Afghanistan and Cameroon no longer justify continued TPS designation.
This is not the first time Trump has attempted to curtail TPS. During his previous term from 2017 to 2021, he sought to end protections for several nationalities, though many of those efforts were blocked in court. In late March, for example, a federal judge halted Trump’s attempt to terminate TPS for Venezuelans, calling the administration’s rationale discriminatory and saying it “smacks of racism.”
PAROLE REVOKED
The U.S. evacuated more than 82,000 Afghans from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021, including more than 70,000 who entered the U.S. with temporary “parole,” which allowed legal entry for a period of two years.
The Temporary Protected Status offered another avenue of protection. DHS said in 2023 that it was warranted due to armed conflict and insurgency in Afghanistan.
Advocates have said in recent days that migrants who entered the U.S. via a Biden-era app known as CBP One, including Afghans, have been receiving notices revoking their temporary parole and giving them seven days to leave the country.
McLaughlin confirmed this week that the department had revoked some migrants’ parole, saying DHS was “exercising
its discretionary authority.” She did not provide the number of revocations.
“Affected aliens are urged to voluntarily self-deport using the CBP Home App,” she said in a statement.
The notices mirror messages sent in error last week to Ukrainians.
