Afghanistan TPS in 2026 and What Afghans in the U.S. Can Do

(AFGHANISTAN) — Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem ended Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan effective July 14, 2025, stripping roughly 11,700 Afghan nationals in the United States of the protection and work permits they had held under the humanitarian program.

The move, announced on May 12, 2025 and published in the Federal Register on May 13, 2025, gave Afghan TPS holders 60 days to adjust their status before the designation expired at 11:59 p.m. on July 14, 2025. When the designation ended, employment authorization tied to Afghanistan TPS ended with it.

A short court reprieve followed. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a seven-day extension on July 14, but declined further intervention on July 21, 2025, allowing the termination to proceed.

That left Afghanistan TPS holders entering late July 2025 without the protection from deportation and work authorization that came with the program. Many now face pressure to pursue other immigration options, including asylum, refugee processing, Special Immigrant Visas, or any other status for which they may qualify.

What Temporary Protected Status Means

Temporary Protected Status allows nationals of countries facing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to remain in the United States temporarily. While the designation is active, beneficiaries are protected from removal, may receive employment authorization, and can seek travel authorization.

Afghanistan first received the designation in May 2022 after the U.S. military withdrawal and the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. The designation reflected security threats, economic collapse, a weakened healthcare system, severe food insecurity, and human rights violations.

Why the Administration Ended the Program

Noem defended the termination by arguing that country conditions had improved and that continued designation no longer served U.S. interests. She said allowing Afghan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States was “contrary to the national interest of the United States.”

The administration cited the Taliban’s promotion of tourism initiatives, a decrease in terrorism threats against the Taliban, and a reduction in food insecurity from 65% to 53% of the population. At the same time, the administration also asserted that TPS holders from Afghanistan posed threats to national security and public safety.

Humanitarian groups rejected that assessment. HIAS and Human Rights Watch criticized the termination as based on “disingenuous justifications” that ignored recurrent violence and humanitarian need.

Conditions Inside Afghanistan

Conditions inside Afghanistan remain central to that dispute. The U.S. State Department continues to list the country under “Level 4: Do Not Travel,” citing civil unrest, crime, terrorism, risk of wrongful detention, kidnapping, and limited health facilities.

That advisory was updated on January 13, 2025. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has said nearly half of Afghanistan’s population still requires humanitarian assistance.

Women and girls remain under sharp restrictions, and the humanitarian concerns deepened in July 2025 when the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders over systematic violations of women’s rights. For Afghans who had relied on TPS, those conditions sharpened the fear of being returned.

Who Is Affected

The end of Afghanistan TPS affects a subset of the roughly 200,000 Afghans who arrived in the United States after the fall of Kabul in August 2021. Many entered through humanitarian parole programs and later sought asylum or other long-term relief.

For those whose status depended on TPS, the deadline carried immediate consequences at work. Afghan TPS holders with employment authorization could continue working during the transition period from May 13 to July 14, 2025, but all work authorization based on TPS terminated after July 14, 2025.

Employers had to reverify the work eligibility of Afghan TPS employees before July 15, 2025. They also had to update I-9 records, communicate with affected workers about the change, and follow federal employment verification rules.

Companies that kept workers on the job without valid authorization risked fines and legal liability. Employers that wanted to retain Afghan workers had to determine whether those employees had secured a different lawful basis to work.

That requirement turned a policy change into an immediate compliance issue across workplaces that had hired Afghans under TPS. It also forced many workers into urgent conversations with lawyers, nonprofit groups, and employers about whether another status could be filed in time.

Possible Immigration Options

One option is asylum. Afghans who fear persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group may seek protection in the United States by filing `Form I-589`.

That path comes with a deadline that can be decisive. Asylum claims generally must be filed within one year of arriving in the United States, unless an applicant qualifies for an exception.

The process can involve a written filing, an interview with an asylum officer, and a long wait for a decision because of backlogs. Still, for many Afghans who lost TPS, asylum remains one of the clearest routes to continued lawful presence if they can meet the legal standard.

Another route runs through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. That system includes Priority-1 for people referred by the United Nations, U.S. embassies, or certain nongovernmental organizations, Priority-2 for groups of special concern including those who worked with the U.S. government or military, and Priority-3 for relatives of refugees already resettled in the United States.

Some Afghans may also qualify for Special Immigrant Visas if they worked with the U.S. government or military. Advocacy groups have also reintroduced the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would create a path to permanency for Afghan parolees evacuated in 2021.

Those possibilities have not erased the pressure caused by the loss of TPS. Without another lawful status, former holders can face detention and deportation.

Legal Challenges and Broader Rollback Efforts

Litigation over the end of Afghanistan TPS has continued even after the July 2025 court setback. Advocates and affected Afghans argue the government failed to account for the humanitarian crisis and may have fallen short of the legal requirements that govern TPS termination.

So far, though, the decisive date remains July 14, 2025. The temporary pause from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals lasted seven days, and the court’s decision on July 21, 2025 left the termination in place.

The end of Afghanistan TPS also fits into a wider administration campaign targeting the program in several countries. As of early 2026, the administration had announced or implemented TPS terminations for Haiti, Burma, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Yemen.

Haiti’s termination was set to take effect on September 2, 2025, though a federal court extended TPS to February 3, 2026. Burma’s designation was terminated effective January 26, 2026, affecting approximately 3,670 individuals, but a federal judge in Chicago paused that termination indefinitely.

Ethiopia’s termination took effect February 13, 2026, affecting about 5,000 individuals, though a federal court stayed the move on January 30, 2026. Somalia’s termination was announced on January 13, 2026, affecting about 700 individuals, while Yemen’s was announced for termination on February 13, 2026.

Courts also restored TPS protections for Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, though the Ninth Circuit paused the district court’s order on February 9, 2026. Against that backdrop, Afghanistan TPS has become part of a larger legal and political fight over how far the administration can go in rolling back temporary humanitarian protections.

What Afghans and Employers Have Been Told to Do

For Afghan nationals left exposed by the change, lawyers and aid groups have urged immediate action. That means gathering TPS approval notices, termination notices, employment authorization documents, passports, travel records, and evidence supporting claims of danger or persecution.

Workers have also been told to speak with employers about sponsorship possibilities where available. In some cases, employers may help with legal referrals or explore employment-based visa or green card options for people with qualifying backgrounds.

Community groups across the United States have responded with legal clinics, public forums, and emergency support. Nonprofits including the International Rescue Committee, HIAS, Catholic Charities, and local legal aid groups have tried to absorb the increased demand for help after the termination.

Those efforts come as demand for representation has risen and deadlines have tightened. For many Afghans, the loss of TPS has meant moving from a temporary but recognized status into a race to avoid falling out of the immigration system altogether.

The Ongoing Debate

The policy debate remains fixed on whether Afghanistan has changed enough to justify the decision. Supporters of termination point to the administration’s view that conditions improved and that keeping the designation no longer served the national interest.

Opponents point to the State Department’s travel warning, the UNHCR assessment, and Taliban restrictions on women and girls as evidence that the danger never disappeared. They say sending Afghans back under those conditions carries risks that TPS was designed to address.

As of Tuesday, March 31, 2026, no reversal has emerged. The administration has shown no sign of reinstating Afghanistan TPS, and the program’s end date of July 14, 2025 remains the dividing line for thousands of Afghans now trying to secure another way to stay in the United States legally.