Judge Caproni’s order blocks a deportation flight that was supposed to leave within days — at least for now.
A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from using a deportation flight to send roughly 150 Afghans from the United States to Pakistan, a ruling that immediately halted a plan that had been scheduled to move forward this week.
The order, issued by U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan, temporarily stops the government from deporting the group while their legal challenge continues. The judge said the government cannot remove them until she rules on whether the deportations would violate their rights.
The case centers on Afghans who were brought to the United States after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, many of whom had worked with American forces or had family ties to U.S. citizens and legal residents. The administration had argued that their temporary legal status had expired and that they could be removed.
The ruling does not permanently end the deportation effort, but it does prevent the flight from proceeding while the court considers the merits of the case. The judge’s order remains in effect through at least November 7, with further hearings expected.
A flight stopped before takeoff
The deportation flight at the center of the case was scheduled to depart from Louisiana, where many of the Afghans had been detained. Immigration officials had told detainees they would be flown to Pakistan, a country where many feared they would face persecution or be returned to Afghanistan, which is now under Taliban control.
Attorneys for the Afghans said the government had failed to provide adequate notice or an opportunity to challenge their removal. They argued that many of the individuals had pending asylum claims or other legal protections that had not been properly considered.
The judge agreed that the plaintiffs had raised serious questions about the legality of the deportations, and that they would face irreparable harm if removed before the court could hear their case.
“The government has not shown that it can remove these individuals without violating their rights,” Caproni wrote in her order, according to court filings reviewed by multiple outlets.
The administration has argued that it has the authority to deport individuals whose temporary protected status has ended, and that the court should not interfere with immigration enforcement decisions.
Who is affected
The group includes Afghans who arrived in the United States under Operation Allies Welcome, a program that evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans after the fall of Kabul. Many had been granted humanitarian parole, a temporary status that allowed them to live and work in the United States while their asylum or visa applications were processed.
Some of the Afghans in the group had been living in the United States for years, with jobs, families and community ties. Others had been detained in recent months as part of a broader immigration enforcement effort.
Advocates said the deportation plan would have sent them to a country where they had no legal status and no guarantee of safety. Pakistan has been deporting Afghans back to Afghanistan in recent months, a policy that has drawn criticism from human rights groups.
“Sending these people to Pakistan is effectively sending them back to the Taliban,” one attorney for the plaintiffs said, according to reports. “That is exactly what they fled.”
What the judge ruled
Caproni’s order temporarily restrains the government from removing the plaintiffs, and requires the government to provide notice before any future deportation attempts. The order also bars the government from transferring the Afghans to other facilities in a way that would make it harder for them to access legal counsel.
The judge did not rule on the ultimate legality of the deportations, but said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on at least some of their claims. She scheduled further proceedings to consider whether to extend the order.
The ruling is the latest in a series of court decisions that have blocked or slowed deportation efforts by the Trump administration, which has made immigration enforcement a central priority.
Reaction
Immigration advocates welcomed the ruling as a critical reprieve for Afghans who had risked their lives to support the United States.
“This order gives these families a chance to have their day in court,” said one advocate involved in the case. “Without it, they would have been on a plane before anyone could stop it.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately comment on the ruling, but administration officials have previously defended the deportation plan as lawful and necessary.
The case is expected to continue in the coming weeks, with the government likely to appeal or seek to narrow the judge’s order.
What happens next
The immediate effect of the ruling is that the deportation flight will not proceed as scheduled. The Afghans in the group will remain in the United States while the court considers their claims.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they will seek a longer-term injunction to prevent the deportations permanently. The government, meanwhile, is expected to argue that the court lacks jurisdiction over immigration enforcement decisions.
For now, the ruling provides a temporary reprieve — but not a final resolution — for Afghans caught in the middle of a broader debate over immigration policy and America’s obligations to its wartime allies.
Sources: Fox News; ABC News; The Guardian; Reuters; Jurist