Trump Admin Readies Afghan Deportation Flight to Pakistan

The Trump administration is preparing to deport dozens of Afghan nationals held in immigration detention to Pakistan on a charter flight that could leave as early as Monday, a senior administration official told NBC News. Pakistan is expected to send them on to Afghanistan, according to The New York Times, which cited three U.S. officials.

More than 150 Afghans are expected to be removed, one official told The New York Times, which would make it one of the largest single removals of Afghans from the United States. The plan has not been publicly announced, NBC News reported, and was first reported by Bloomberg.

Dozens of Afghan immigrants, possibly including relatives of Afghans who worked alongside the U.S. military, are expected to be deported early next week, according to lawyers, advocacy groups, and families of those detained. https://t.co/kv2Ohfq1QN

— ABC News (@ABC) October 31, 2026

Routed Through Pakistan

The United States has no diplomatic relations with the regime that now runs Kabul, so it cannot arrange removals there directly, The New York Times reported. Sending the detainees to Pakistan, which would oversee their expulsion across the border, gets around that obstacle, according to the Times.

The senior administration official told NBC News the charter flight could not land in Pakistan without that government’s knowledge and approval. It is not clear what formal agreement, if any, the U.S. has with Islamabad, NBC News reported.

A court filing for one detainee, reviewed by ABC News, lists Pakistan as the flight’s destination with further transport to Afghanistan. Advocates and families told ABC News that hundreds of Afghan nationals are being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention in Louisiana, a common departure point for international removal flights.

Who Is on the List

Shawn VanDiver, president of the advocacy group AfghanEvac, told NBC News that at least 80 Afghans have been moved to Louisiana in recent days from 34 other ICE facilities, and that 19 of them have no lawyer. Advocates told ABC News the group may include relatives of Afghans who worked alongside U.S. forces.

Court records and interviews cited by The New York Times show the group also includes people with criminal records and failed asylum claims. One man the Times interviewed said he lost his permanent residency after serving time for two felonies in his early 20s. Another entered the country illegally in 2024, was arrested by Border Patrol and had his asylum application denied by a U.S. judge, according to filings described by the Times.

U.S. law bars deportation to a country where a court has ruled a person would most likely face persecution, and it is not known whether any of the Afghans on the flight have such protections, The New York Times reported.

The Bigger Picture

President Trump halted refugee admissions for Afghans and others when he returned to office as part of a broader immigration crackdown, NBC News reported. The administration has also sent thousands of deportees to third countries, a practice the Supreme Court is set to take up in December, according to NBC News.

Critics argue the Pakistan route puts lives at risk. “You don’t have to be that smart to figure out that they’re sending them to Pakistan so that Pakistan will finish the job,” VanDiver told NBC News.

Supporters of the policy counter that immigration judges have already ruled on many of these cases and that final removal orders should be carried out. Whether any court steps in before Monday’s expected flight remains to be seen.

Sources

• NBC News
• ABC News
• The New York Times (via Hawaii Tribune-Herald)

Reporting by Daily Beltway.