RASC News Agency: Shawn Van Diver, President of Afghan Evac, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization advocating for the rights and safety of Afghanistani refugees, has fiercely condemned the Biden administration’s recent decision to terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for nationals of Afghanistan. In a forthright interview with CBS News, Van Diver denounced the move as both reckless and morally indefensible, describing any suggestion that Afghanistan has become safe as “absolute madness.” “Believing that conditions in Afghanistan have improved to a level where it is safe for individuals who collaborated with the United States to return this is nothing short of lunacy,” Van Diver declared. “It disregards the real and ongoing danger these people face simply because they aided American forces during the war.”
Van Diver emphasized that the U.S. bears a direct moral and strategic responsibility for the protection of these individuals, many of whom have been residing in the United States for over three and a half years following the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021. “If they are forced to return, they will be walking into a trap. Their lives will be in immediate peril.” The Department of Homeland Security announced that TPS for Afghanistani nationals will officially expire on July 12. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem defended the decision by claiming “improvements in Afghanistan’s security landscape” and citing concerns about fraud and potential security threats among certain beneficiaries. She further stated that this move serves U.S. national interests.
However, analysts and refugee advocates strongly dispute the administration’s characterization of the security situation. Afghanistan under Taliban rule remains one of the most dangerous and repressive environments in the world particularly for former U.S. allies, human rights defenders, women, and ethnic minorities. Since the fall of Kabul, targeted killings, disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and public floggings have become tragically routine. The TPS program was instituted under President Joe Biden in the immediate aftermath of the Taliban’s resurgence to protect thousands of Afghanistani citizens who had fled the country amidst the collapse of the previous government. The designation shielded refugees from deportation and granted them legal status to live and work in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds.
Now, with the imminent expiration of TPS, thousands of Afghanistani evacuees many of whom served as interpreters, contractors, civil society leaders, or military aides are facing the terrifying possibility of forced return. For them, Afghanistan is not merely unstable it is lethally hostile. “This is more than a policy failure; it is a moral abandonment,” said a Washington-based immigration attorney working with Afghanistani asylum seekers. “These individuals risked everything for American ideals. To now declare that Afghanistan is safe for them is a betrayal of both truth and trust.” Human rights organizations, veterans’ groups, and bipartisan lawmakers have urged the Biden administration to reconsider the termination and instead extend or redesignate TPS for Afghanistan. Many also call for the creation of a more permanent solution, such as a special pathway to legal residency or expedited asylum processes for those at risk.
As international attention on Afghanistan continues to wane, Van Diver and others warn that withdrawing legal protections now could have fatal consequences. “The Taliban’s Afghanistan is not a place of peace. It is a state of fear,” he concluded. “Sending these people back is not just wrong it’s deadly.” The unfolding situation highlights a broader crisis in refugee protection and U.S. accountability post-withdrawal. For thousands of displaced Afghanistani families, the American promise of refuge is now hanging by a thread.
