The United States government under Trup administration plans to send nearly 200 Afghan nationals to Pakistan before authorities transfer them to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
A sworn court declaration confirmed that a deportation flight originally scheduled for November 3, would land in Pakistan. Authorities would then transport an Afghan passenger to Afghanistan by land.
Sergio Aguilar, a supervisory detention and deportation officer at ICE, outlined the arrangement in an October 30 declaration.
Aguilar said he initially believed the charter flight would land in Afghanistan. He later learned that Pakistan would serve as its final air destination, followed by onward travel to Afghanistan.
He also clarified that the Afghan national’s removal order identified Afghanistan as the intended deportation destination.
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. US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff subsequently ordered federal authorities to explain whether the aircraft would fly directly to Afghanistan or stop in Pakistan.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg represents Sadat and another Afghan national facing deportation.
In an email, the attorney said officials had separately informed both clients that they would fly to Pakistan. From there, they would travel overland to the Afghan border.
However, neither client received information about who would transport them or how the journey would take place.
ICE later removed Sadat from the passenger list and released him, according to Sandoval-Moshenberg. A judge had ruled that his continued detention violated his due process rights.
Meanwhile, the lawyer’s second client still awaited a decision on an emergency request for a temporary restraining order as of last night.
The disclosures leave key questions unanswered. It remains unclear whether Pakistan has agreed to accept the deportees. Authorities have also not clarified which government would oversee their transfer to Afghanistan.
DHS did not say whether Pakistan had provided those assurances for this operation. It also did not clarify whether any guarantees would cover the subsequent journey to Afghanistan or the deportees’ treatment there.
The spokesperson said ICE no longer bears responsibility for individuals once they leave its custody.
Separate federal court cases in Texas and Louisiana have revealed further details about the planned Afghan removals through Pakistan.
In an October 15 order, US District Judge Kathleen Cardone said ICE 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.
However, 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. Subsequent filings have sought reconsideration.
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