President Donald Trump's administration is planning to deport Afghans detained in the U.S. back to their home country via Pakistan, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press — a move advocacy groups say could put their lives at risk.
Immigrant rights organizations say those deported could face retaliation from the Taliban. Thousands fled persecution and feared for their lives after helping the U.S. military and aid groups in Afghanistan.
“This is absolutely unconscionable," said Shawn VanDiver, a U.S. Navy veteran and president of the advocacy group #AfghanEvac. “It seems like there’s no end to their willingness to break the law and violate people’s human rights.”
The U.S. intends to initially deport Afghan immigrants as early as Monday on flights from Louisiana, where the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has immigrant detention and processing facilities, to Pakistan, according to court documents.
The plan to deport Afghans to Pakistan was first reported by Bloomberg on Monday. On Friday, The New York Times reported that the immigrants were going to be sent to Afghanistan after arriving in Pakistan.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in an email to the AP on Saturday that ICE does not comment on future immigrant-removal operations, citing operational security and personnel safety. Officials at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington did not immediately return email messages.
U.S. officials confirmed the Afghan deportations in sealed court documents obtained by the AP.
In a document filed in federal court in Virginia on Friday, a senior ICE official acknowledged that an Afghan immigrant had been scheduled to be on an upcoming charter flight from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Pakistan, “with further transport onward to Afghanistan.” The document was filed in the case of an immigrant who is not in custody and is challenging efforts to deport him.
In another federal court case in Oklahoma, federal prosecutors filed a document on Monday disclosing that another Afghan immigrant was scheduled to be deported to Afghanistan sometime next week.
The Trump administration has deported thousands of immigrants to countries other than their own. It has done this in some instances when it is unable to send them to their own countries because the US does not have formal relations, like with the Taliban government in Afghanistan. In other instances, it has been used as a deterrent.
In many cases, a U.S. immigration judge has determined their lives would be in jeopardy if sent to their home countries. It was not immediately clear if any designated for return to Afghanistan have protective orders against being sent there.
Human Rights First, an advocacy group for refugees and asylum seekers that tracks U.S. deportation flights, said Saturday that it had confirmed a scheduled flight from Louisiana to Pakistan on Tuesday carrying Afghan immigrants.
“It is beyond egregious that this administration plans to carry out an unprecedented mass deportation flight of Afghans, forcibly sending them through Pakistan and into the hands of the Taliban,” Savitri Arvey, director of policy, refugee and immigrant rights for Human Rights First, said in an email to the AP.
“This follows previous unconscionable deportation flights we have tracked under this administration, including Iranian Christian converts and political dissidents removed via Qatar and Kuwait to Iran, as well as a Russian political dissident removed via Egypt to Russia,” Arvey said.
Some Democratic members of Congress took to social media to criticize the Afghan deportations after seeing the Times story on Friday.
“It is reprehensible that the Trump Administration plans to deport hundreds of Afghans, including women, children and those who supported U.S. forces, to Pakistan — who then risk being sent back into the hands of the Taliban. Congress must stand against this," Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire posted on X.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut added in his own X post, “We made a promise to our Afghan allies — that after aiding & protecting our troops during the conflict in Afghanistan, America would not abandon them. This Administration is betraying that promise, deporting them to potential torture & death.”
In September, Trump's administration finalized a last-minute reprieve to avoid the closure of a camp in Qatar that houses more than 1,000 Afghans who assisted America’s war effort or are the relatives of U.S. service members. The administration extended for nine months the life of Camp As Sayliyah, which had been due to close Sept. 30 at the end of the U.S. budget year.
Upon entering his second term, Trump, a Republican, paused his Democratic predecessor’s Afghan resettlement program as part of a series of executive orders cracking down on immigration, including dramatically altering refugee admissions to focus on white South Africans.
The refugee changes left thousands of people who fled war and persecution — and had gone through yearslong vetting processes to start new lives in America — stranded at places worldwide, including the base in Qatar.
FILE - A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of protesters inspired by frustrated high school students took to the streets across France on Saturday in a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over living costs and education.
Youth-led protests were also held elsewhere in Europe, including in Germany and Portugal.
France's protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, with whimsical Halloween costumes lightening the mood, but gatherings in Paris and other cities ended in clouds of tear gas and scattered fires set by small groups on the margins.
About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed across the country after French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a “very high risk” of disorder, especially after dark on Halloween. Paris marches were rerouted to the capital’s edge to protect stores, government buildings and touristed areas in the city center.
France's government estimated that 320,000 people protested nationwide Saturday, fewer than in previous protests but still a significant turnout. Mass protests on Oct. 17 that deteriorated into some of France's worst rioting in years drew 550,000 people around France, and demonstrations on Oct. 24 drew 410,000, according to government estimates. Organizers’ turnout estimates are higher.
Authorities in France reported more than 560 arrests nationwide by Saturday night. Police had arrested thousands of people following riots and looting that marred marches the previous two Saturdays.
In the main Paris march, each group carried its own banner: high school students, climate activists and people angry about the cost of living.
Corentin Cabreux, a 21-year-old student, said that he lives in a state-run student residence where “there are damp stains all along the bottom of my walls, whole sections peeling off, cockroaches everywhere, rats.”
An information technology worker protested in solidarity with the students and her mother, who was struggling with a minimum wage job. A gray-haired woman carried a sign reading ‘’The Old are Fed Up Too.''
Halloween costumes reflected the mood. Cléo Farenc, a 30-year-old gallery assistant, came dressed as a beheaded Marie-Antoinette.
“It’s about embodying a figure of power who was brought down by the people,” she said. “It’s a very strong symbol in French culture.''
The rallies in France were started last month by high school students protesting neglected buildings, teacher shortages and a university admissions system seen as unfair to disadvantaged students. Labor unions and others angry at the leadership of President Emmanuel Macron joined in with a variety of demands.
On Saturday, the crowd streamed along the Boulevards des Maréchaux, avenues that ring the edge of Paris, in a march that was joyful for hours. Techno music blasted from speakers, and some marchers went trick-or-treating. A police helicopter hovered overhead as the sun set slowly over the city.
Later, clashes broke out near Porte de Charenton, where the march ended. Protesters hurled glass bottles and fireworks at police. Officers responded with volleys of stun grenades and tear gas. The blasts echoed through the streets, and smoke filled the air as dusk fell.
Many peaceful marchers turned back, coughing, their eyes streaming with tears, and left the march, some scattering into the nearby Bois de Vincennes, one of the largest parks in Paris.
While the vast majority of protesters have been peaceful, groups of troublemakers routinely target police with fireworks and projectiles. Police use tear gas, dispersion grenades, water cannons and other tactics that have resulted in severe injuries.
Paris police barred people from entering Place de la Republique and Les Halles — neighborhoods popular among young people — from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Unaccompanied minors face a separate 9 p.m. curfew around the Champs-Elysees. A Paris court on Wednesday suspended an earlier curfew on minors as a serious and illegal infringement of freedom of movement.
In Germany, a youth initiative called “Gen Z regelt” — roughly “Gen Z’s got this” — rallied in more than 30 cities “for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life,” and against any return of military conscription. Organizers said that tens of thousands participated in the protests across the country, but official figures weren't immediately available.
In Berlin, young protesters gathered at Brandenburg Gate on Saturday afternoon, demanding more investments in education and housing.
“We call for more money to be invested in social services and education, as well as in climate protection — in short, in our future — because we are the ones who will be affected by this the longest and who will have to live with it,” high school student Lara Breitenbach said.
Janelle Schulz, another high school student from Berlin, also said that the authorities had to invest more money in education.
“At my school, the ceiling is collapsing because of water damage, nothing is being done about it, we have a shortage of teachers, the toilets are broken,” she said.
While most people rallied peacefully, some protests turned violent on Saturday night.
In downtown Frankfurt, some rioters smashed several storefronts and stole goods from inside. They also stole weapons from a gun store, which police were able to retrieve later. Some rioters also threw Molotov cocktails at police after pummeling them with stones and bottles earlier in the day, Frankfurt police said on X.
In Cologne, police ended a protest march early after protesters used pyrotechnics, threw stones at them and covered their faces despite a ban. Police also used water cannons to disperse demonstrators.
In the northern city of Hamburg, some protesters also shot pyrotechnics toward police and burned down barricades. Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowds in Hamburg.
Elsewhere in Europe, people also protested against the housing crisis and for a better future.
Thousands of protesters, including families with small children, converged in downtown Lisbon to peacefully protest Portugal's housing crisis, holding up placards reading “Houses or Fire” and “We are not Afraid.” Others in the crowd held aloft small cardboard houses while a few dressed up for Halloween.
In The Hague, Netherlands, there was a strong police presence in and around the downtown shopping area on Saturday afternoon after online appeals for protests and fears of rioting and looting. However, there were no major disturbances by midafternoon. Many stores in the city were boarded up as a precaution.
Kirsten Grieshaber reported from Berlin. Angela Charlton and Thomas Adamson in Paris; Kerstin Sopke and Geir Moulson in Berlin; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; and Helena Alves in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.
A man uses a street sign to smash the windows of a store in downtown Frankfurt on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)
A car is on fire during protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Demonstrators stand in front of police officers during a protest under the slogan "Gen Z Takes Care of It" in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Demonstrators with a banner reading " The Youth Is Angry" attend a protest under the slogan "Gen Z Takes Care of It" in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Protesters march during a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
A protester holds a banner depicting a skull during a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Demonstrator prepare stones during protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
A demonstrator holds a French flag during a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
A luxury boutique is covered by protective wooden boards ahead of a planned large-scale protest scheduled for tomorrow, in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Workers install protective wooden boards over the windows and storefront of a luxury boutique, ahead of a planned large-scale protest scheduled for tomorrow, in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A man sits next to a car that is examined by Police officers before protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Protesters hold a banner reading: "Thank you youth, love will win" during a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Demonstrators hold a banner reading: "Injustice brings chaos" as they gather before a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
A march passes in front of the Ministry of Education at Piazza dell'Emporio. Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Photo by Valentina Stefanelli /LaPresse via AP)
Exterior view of a shop of the Saint Laurent fashion company before protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Police vehicles are parked on the day before protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
A man stands in front of a barricaded shop of the soccer team Paris Saint-Germain before protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Worker install safeguards on a shop before protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
A protester throws a projectile towards police after a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Police officers run toward protesters during a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
