Opinion | Support our allies who are Afghan refugees. Don’t deport them.

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has called for the removal of Temporary Protected Status for nearly 12,000 Afghan refugees currently in the U.S. and has ordered their return to Afghanistan, citing the country’s “improved security situation.”

Temporary Protected Status can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary to people of various nationalities who are in the United States. In theory, they can’t be deported and can work legally but don’t necessarily have a path to citizenship.

In May, the Department of Homeland Security wrote that “the secretary determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions.”

This characterization of the situation contradicts a recent United Nations description of Afghanistan as a country that “continues to deteriorate.” Noem’s words also fly in the face of a warning on the U.S. State Department website that lists the dangers in Afghanistan as “civil unrest, crime, terrorism, risk of wrongful detention, kidnapping and limited health facilities.”

More to the point, the people Noem wants to deport were Afghan citizens who consistently supported and assisted U.S. troops during the war there from 2001 to 2021. Many Afghans in the U.S. today were our allies who stood with America during that brutal conflict.

“This suspension abandons Afghan interpreters, contractors and their families who made unimaginable sacrifices to support and protect American service members abroad,” said Naveed Shah, U.S. Army veteran and political director of Common Defense, a veterans’ organization.

And from Lt. Col. Mark Belinsky (ret.) of the Military Officers Association of America: “[We] continue to advocate for the protection of our Afghan allies, asking Congress and the Executive Branch to prioritize their resettlement and ensure a clear path to citizenship.”

In addition, Matthew Shuman, chair of the American Legion Security Commission, said: “Our Afghan allies have stood alongside America’s service members … and then earned the right to call America home, seek citizenship and fly the American Flag on the front porch of their own home in our beautiful nation.”

The American Legion joined other Veteran Service Organizations on Feb. 8, 2024, in calling Congress to mandate support and assistance for our wartime Afghan allies. Specifically, the Legion is asking Congress to establish a path to permanent legal residency for the Afghan allies who supported American troops in Afghanistan.

By turning its back on the Afghans, the Trump administration not only jeopardizes the lives of our allies but also undermines trust in America’s commitment to its military ethos. Sending them back would be a stain on America’s honor and a direct violation of the trust these individuals placed in our nation and its service members.

This principle should certainly extend to America’s allies. We call on our representatives in Congress to support our Afghan allies, not deport them.

We should all be ashamed.