US Plans to Deport Nearly 200 Afghans Through Pakistan

The United States plans to send nearly 200 Afghan nationals to Pakistan first, before they are moved overland to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The plan emerged in federal court papers, and it has raised urgent questions about consent, custody and safety.

A sworn declaration by a United States immigration officer confirmed the Pakistan route. Sergio Aguilar, a supervisory detention and deportation officer at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in an October 30 declaration that a charter flight originally scheduled for November 3 would land in Pakistan as its final air destination. The passenger would then travel to Afghanistan by land.

Aguilar said he first believed the flight would land in Afghanistan. He later learned that Pakistan would serve as the final air destination, followed by onward travel to Afghanistan. He added that the removal order itself still named Afghanistan as the intended destination.

Afghans deported via Pakistan: what the court papers show

The declaration forms part of Sadat v. Mullin, a federal case involving Said Mansor Sadat, a 30-year-old Afghan national. Officials had assigned Sadat to a special charter flight departing from Alexandria, Louisiana. United States District Judge Michael Nachmanoff then ordered federal authorities to explain whether the aircraft would fly directly to Afghanistan or stop in Pakistan.

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, the lawyer for Sadat and another Afghan national facing removal, said officials told both clients separately that they would fly to Pakistan. From there, they would travel overland to the Afghan border. Neither client received information about who would transport them or how the journey would take place.

Immigration authorities later removed Sadat from the passenger list and released him, according to his lawyer. A judge had ruled that his continued detention violated his due process rights. The lawyer’s second client was still awaiting a decision on an emergency request for a temporary restraining order as of Monday night.

Three cases behind the wider plan

Separate federal court cases in Texas and Louisiana have revealed further details about the planned removals through Pakistan. In an October 15 order, United States District Judge Kathleen Cardone said immigration authorities had acknowledged nominating Basir Ahmad Ahmadi for a possible deportation operation to Afghanistan in early November.

Ahmadi sought emergency court protection. He argued that Pakistani authorities could arrest him and hand him over to the Taliban. Cardone rejected his request on October 29. She ruled that the district court lacked jurisdiction to stop his removal.

In Louisiana, Afghan national Khaled Khaleeq also sought emergency intervention. He had learned through news coverage and discussions with other detainees that officials might deport him to Pakistan or Afghanistan. A federal judge denied his request on October 30. Later filings have sought reconsideration of that decision.

Advocates for Afghans warn that the group includes relatives of people who assisted United States forces before the 2021 withdrawal. They argue that returnees could face detention, abuse or targeted harm. The Taliban authorities, for their part, voiced concern on Monday over the reported plans, and said they were prepared to engage constructively with Washington over the return of Afghan nationals.

What remains unanswered

The court papers do not confirm that a November 3 flight landed, or that any person was transferred. They say a flight was scheduled and planned, not that it took place. That distinction matters, and readers should treat any claim of a completed transfer as unconfirmed unless officials or court records verify it.

It also remains unclear whether Pakistan has agreed to accept the deportees. The Department of Homeland Security did not say whether Pakistan had provided assurances for this operation. It did not clarify whether any guarantees would cover the onward journey to Afghanistan or the treatment of deportees there. A spokesperson said immigration authorities no longer bear responsibility for individuals once they leave their custody.

For Pakistan, the case lands in a sensitive context. Pakistan has pursued returns of Afghans without legal status in recent years, as reported here: Kundi Warns Over Illegal Afghans and Encroachment. The new plan differs: it involves people held in the United States, not people already living in Pakistan, and would place Pakistan in the middle of a transfer to a third country.

What happens next

Lawyers are likely to keep challenging individual removals in court, case by case, while the wider plan stays in flux. The next confirmed step will be a court ruling, an official statement, or a verified flight record, not a further leak of a plan.

The plan follows Feature Pakistan’s earlier report on the deportation plan via Pakistan, and comes as the UK doubled its migrant settlement wait to 10 years and Germany increased student visas for Pakistanis.

Frequently asked questions

How many Afghans are covered by the plan?

Reports put the number at nearly 200 Afghan nationals, with earlier reporting referring to more than 150 people held in United States immigration custody.

What did the court declaration confirm?

It confirmed that a charter flight originally scheduled for November 3 would land in Pakistan as its final air destination, with onward land travel to Afghanistan.

Has a flight already taken place?

No confirmed flight or transfer has been verified in the court papers or official statements examined for this report.

Why would the route go through Pakistan?

The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban government and no working embassy in Kabul, which makes a direct deportation flight hard to arrange.

What is still unclear?

It is unclear whether Pakistan agreed to accept the deportees, who would oversee the onward transfer, and what guarantees would apply to their treatment in Afghanistan.