DHS terminating temporary protected status for Afghanistan, what it means for Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Trump administration is ending temporary protected status for Afghan refugees, meaning they may be forced to go back home.

Utah took in hundreds after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in 2021. The Catholic Community Services here in Salt Lake City works to assist the refugees.

“We’ve been helping between, I would say 200 to 400 Afghans every year,” Immigration Program Manager and attorney for Catholic Community Services, Alyssa Williams, says.

Now, the Trump administration says conditions have improved in Afghanistan. To the point where the refugees no longer need protected status.

“That’s not something that the Afghans that we have here believe is true,” Williams says.

The announcement on May 12th from the Department of Homeland Security included the following quote from Secretary Kristi Noem.

“This administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation. Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country. Additionally, the termination furthers the national interest as DHS records indicate that there are recipients who have been under investigation for fraud and threatening our public safety and national security. Reviewing TPS designations is a key part of restoring integrity in our immigration system.”
Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Williams said that it’s not a surprise, and she sees the situation very differently from Noem.

“I think that they are shocked that anybody would call this a security situation in Afghanistan, something that’s improving, and we’re usually seeing that it’s deteriorating,” Williams explained.

Williams believes that not many refugees in Utah will be sent back due to their application statuses.

“A lot of people have moved into a green card application or an asylum application to be able to get a more permanent status because they’ve been able to express that terror and that fear of the current Taliban government,” Williams says.

The International Rescue Committee responded to the termination of temporary protected status for Afghanistan.

Since 2021, the IRC has provided case management, housing, employment support, and legal services for around 12,000 Afghan children and adults in the US, helping them reunite with family, receive critical legal protections such as TPS and asylum, pursue a path to citizenship, and gain or maintain employment authorization. The IRC remains committed to providing these vital services for individuals who have fled conflict and persecution and seek to rebuild their lives in the US.

We urgently call on the US government to reconsider this harmful policy change and maintain this life-saving humanitarian protection for people from Afghanistan.
The International Rescue Committee’s statement

The termination will go into effect on July 12, 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security.