A bipartisan group of 66 US lawmakers has formally petitioned the administration of President Donald Trump, demanding an immediate halt to the planned mass deportation of Afghan nationals, which includes individuals who previously worked alongside coalition forces prior to the 2021 military withdrawal. In their Monday correspondence, the legislators cited nonprofit reports indicating that at least 150 Afghans were scheduled for removal via flights departing detention centers in Louisiana for Pakistan.

According to reports from the Associated Press, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have stated in court filings that they ultimately intend to return certain Afghans directly to their homeland. The United States currently maintains no formal diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, a nation that has remained under Taliban control since the chaotic American troop exit in August 2021. *.

"Sending dozens of people back to one of the most dangerous countries on earth, and where they are likely to be targeted for their or their family's suspected support of the US government or criticism of the Taliban, is a death sentence," the lawmakers wrote in their letter addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The authors claimed that the country had supposedly made a binding moral commitment never to abandon Afghan allies.

As part of its aggressive immigration crackdown, the US regime has reportedly forged agreements with at least 35 nations to accept third-country nationals, often bypassing traditional removal channels where deportees face severe persecution. Critics argue that this controversial policy severely undermines decades of established international humanitarian norms concerning refugees and asylum seekers, frequently routing vulnerable individuals to regions notorious for human rights violations.

Source: www.aljazeera.com