Extended legal protections for Afghans sought in US House discharge petition

WASHINGTON — Colorado Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, a military veteran, is making an attempt during Congress’ lame-duck session to provide legal protections for Afghanistan immigrants who aided the U.S. military for years, but now face swift deportations. 

Earlier this week, Crow filed a discharge petition. If he gains 218 signatures, he can force a House vote on his measure, H.R. 9899, which would allow certain Afghan nationals to qualify for Temporary Protected Status until July 2029. 

So far, the discharge petition has 114 backers, with two Republicans, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Don Bacon of Nebraska, on board. There are 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats and one independent in the House.

“After more than two decades of war, we made a promise that we’d look after them. It’s both a moral and national security imperative that we keep that promise,” Crow said in a statement. “I’m working to force a vote that will protect Afghans already in the United States because I won’t let our nation leave these brave Afghans behind.”

The Trump administration has moved to effectively end the TPS program that Congress created in the 1990s to temporarily grant relief for nationals hailing from countries deemed too unsafe for return. The administration also has sought to revoke humanitarian protections, including TPS, for Afghans initially given under the Biden administration. 

The Department of Homeland Security initially moved to deport hundreds of Afghan allies to Pakistan, where they would likely then be removed to Afghanistan, but paused those efforts, which Bloomberg Law first reported. 

The practice of removing a noncitizen to a country with which they have no ties and then back to a home country where they will face harm is known as refoulement and it’s prohibited under international law. 

The Taliban currently controls the government in Afghanistan and the State Department’s travel advisory for the country is at the highest level, which means it advises against traveling.

DHS estimated that there were roughly 11,000 Afghan nationals with TPS before then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked protections in May 2025. 

Legal protections sought

Crow is a former paratrooper and Army Ranger who was deployed to Afghanistan and has long petitioned for thousands of Afghan allies to receive legal protections after the chaotic 2021 U.S. withdrawal from the country that resulted in the Taliban taking over. Many of those Afghan allies and their families had to flee because of likely harm from the Taliban, a terrorist organization, for aiding the United States.

“Our Afghan partners put their lives on the line to help protect American servicemembers like me,” Crow said. 

While Crow’s discharge petition might reach the 218-vote threshold for a vote, it will likely not move in the Senate, which Republicans control, or reach the 60 votes needed to advance. 

But in the 120th Congress, Democrats and independents who caucus with them will have 55 votes in the Senate, potentially 56 if Democrat Mary Peltola wins the Alaska race against GOP incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan. 

Passing any legal protections for immigrants, especially nationals from Afghanistan, will likely face a veto from President Donald Trump, and need a two-thirds majority to override. 

During his second administration, Trump instituted a ban on nationals from Afghanistan, and directed the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to stop processing legal immigration paperwork for Afghans after last year’s National Guard shooting in Washington, D.C.

A federal judge in June ordered the Trump administration to continue processing that paperwork. 

The person charged with killing West Virginia U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and injuring another, came to the U.S. under the humanitarian program for Afghan allies and was granted asylum. 

A federal judge in August, allowed the Trump administration to force-feed Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man charged in the National Guard shooting, because he has refused to eat while incarcerated.