MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in New York temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plans to deport Afghans detained in the United States to Afghanistan or Pakistan on Tuesday, after advocates and dozens of members of Congress warned that their lives would be at risk.
The government told the court Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had no chartered or commercial flights for deporting Afghan nationals to Afghanistan or to Pakistan at least to the end of the week. Judge Valerie Caproni’s order, which expires Saturday, asks all officials to adhere to that. ICE books the flights weeks in advance.
A letter led by California Democratic Rep. Scott Peters and signed by 65 other members of the House and Senate said they were “extremely concerned that sending vulnerable people” would expose them to “persecution, torture, or even death.” The letter was sent Monday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
Immigrant rights organizations have also warned that those deported could face retaliation from the Taliban.
Thousands of Afghans fled persecution and feared for their lives after helping the U.S. military and aid groups in Afghanistan.
According to court documents obtained by the Associated Press, the U.S. planned to deport Afghan immigrants on Monday on flights from Louisiana, where ICE has immigrant detention and processing facilities, to Pakistan.
President Donald Trump's administration has deported thousands of immigrants to countries other than their own. In some cases, it has resorted to third-country deportations when removal to their countries of origin was not possible, like when formal diplomatic relations were absent, as is the case with Afghanistan’s Taliban government. In other instances, third-country deportations have been used as a deterrent.
Advocates and attorneys said that more than 80 detained Afghans had contacted them after ICE notified them that they could be deported this week via Pakistan. Among them are women, a police officer, members of religious minorities, and people whose family members served in the U.S. military. Most fled Afghanistan because of persecution and do not have legal representation, according to Human Rights First and AfghanEvac, a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrants.
Before the judge signed her order, Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesman of foreign ministry, said “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan expresses its serious concern" about the reports that U.S. plans to transfer Afghans to Pakistan.
Takal called the U.S. to make sure that decisions or actions are based on rights and “legitimate demands” of those involved, and said “third-party countries should not engage in dealings concerning the fate of another nation’s citizens.”
“Today is a good day,” Shawn VanDiver, president at AfghanEvac, said at a news conference. “But I want to be honest with you, this is a reprieve, not a resolution. We haven’t stopped this fight forever. This is just a pause.”
Savitri Arvey, director of policy, refugee and immigrant rights for Human Rights First, said individuals returned to Afghanistan “face grave, systematic dangers,” including arbitrary detentions, executions, public flogging and retaliatory violence.
“The stakes were very, very high,” she said, and noted that women and girls faced severe restrictions in Afghanistan, like systematic denials of education, employment and public speech.
Advocates expressed their concerned about the role of the Pakistani government in facilitating the returns to Afghanistan and the fact that there is no information about the arrangements that the U.S. has made with Pakistan.
“We celebrate today, but we’re getting right back to work tomorrow, continuing to make sure through our flight tracking that none of these flights are taking off,” Arvey said.
Abdul Qahar Afghan contributed from Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
FILE - Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., vice chair of the New Democrat Coalition, speaks with members of the press outside the West Wing of the White House on March 30, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
FILE - A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Annie Andrews has won an upset victory over Republican Darline Graham for a Senate seat in South Carolina, a sign that dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump has seeped into even some of the most conservative states.
Andrews’ victory is a defeat for Trump, who backed Graham despite doubts within his party, and it puts Democrats one seat closer to the four they need to retake control of the chamber. Democrats have also flipped a seat in North Carolina and won key races in Georgia and New Hampshire on Tuesday as they tried to recapture majorities in Congress and break Republicans’ unified hold on power in Washington.
Graham was appointed to the Senate in July after her brother, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, died unexpectedly, and she decided to run for a full term of her own. Andrews, a doctor, will be the first woman elected to the Senate from South Carolina. She’s the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state in more than 20 years.
Democrats who once saw the political map as an almost impossible lift are now hopeful that a Senate majority is within reach, even though their path runs through several more conservative states.
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff won reelection in Georgia, defeating Rep. Mike Collins and denying Republicans a seat they had once seen as a top pickup opportunity. Rep. Chris Pappas won a Senate race in New Hampshire, defeating former Sen. John Sununu to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
Polls are still open in some states across the country as voters — angry over high prices and the war in Iran and concerned about government corruption — cast their ballots in midterm elections that will serve as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term.
The elections could drastically shift power in Washington. Democrats were cautiously optimistic as they watched Republicans spend the campaign’s final stretch pumping tens of millions of dollars into states and districts that Trump won handily two years ago. They're betting that discontent over Trump’s failure to stop inflation and perceptions that he's focused more on gilding the nation’s capital than easing their pain at the pump will turn the tide in their favor.
Republicans held out hope their money advantage would help stem the tide, but they were bracing to lose control of the U.S. House and fighting to hang onto the U.S. Senate — an outcome that seemed unlikely earlier this year, given a map widely seen as favoring their party.
Several Democratic senators easily won reelection, including Sens. Cory Booker in New Jersey, Ed Markey in Massachusetts and John Hickenlooper in Colorado. Democrat Juliana Stratton was elected to replace Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin.
On the Republican side, Sen. Ashley Moody won a special election in Florida to finish the term of Marco Rubio, who became Trump’s secretary of state in 2025. Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman won a Senate seat in Wyoming, replacing retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis.
In the House, Democrat Jamie Ager beat Republican Jennifer Capps Balkcom in North Carolina to give the party its first House flip. Another Democratic flip came in New Jersey, where former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett defeated Rep. Tom Kean, who missed four months of votes in Washington this year as he underwent treatment for depression, a diagnosis he did not disclose until his return.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats in the Senate to win the majority. They need three in the House.
More than 59 million people had already cast ballots before Tuesday, according to an Associated Press analysis, surpassing early-voter turnout from 2022.
Trump, whose party has struggled when he's not running to turn out the low-propensity voters who have fueled his victories, told voters to act as though he's on the ballot, even as many Republican candidates kept their distance.
Trump's aggressive campaign schedule had him visiting the reddest states, including Kansas, Mississippi and South Carolina, underscoring his party’s challenges.
On Tuesday, he declared in a Fox News Channel interview that “inflation is solved” — even though consumer prices rose 3.6% in September from a year earlier, the Commerce Department reported last week.
“I think the results are going to be better than you think,” Trump predicted.
The White House said he gathered in the evening with key members of his Cabinet and top political advisers for an East Room reception to watch the results come in.
Voters were sour heading into Tuesday, with the midterm electorate deeply unhappy with the country’s direction and pessimistic about the future, according to The AP Voter Poll.
Most said they feel frustrated, with about three-quarters saying they feel “angry” or “dissatisfied” with the country’s current trajectory. Dissatisfaction was particularly high in blue states, but even in red states, a majority of voters were at least “dissatisfied.”
The economy helped key Trump's White House comeback. But the poll found that three-quarters of voters say the economy is “not so good” or “poor." About 8 in 10 say inflation has caused a “severe” or “moderate” financial hardship for their households.
Government corruption was also a big issue with voters. Roughly half cited it and the cost of living as “crucial” to their vote for Congress — higher than immigration enforcement policies, the war in Iran and artificial intelligence data centers. About 6 in 10 voters said Trump prioritizes his own personal interests more than the country’s interests.
Despite their relative advantage on issues, the Democratic Party is not much more popular with voters than the Republicans. Just under half of voters have a “somewhat” or “strongly” favorable view of the Democratic Party, while about 4 in 10 view the GOP positively.
Republicans tried to buck historical precedent — a president’s party almost always loses seats during the midterms — with an aggressive redistricting effort aimed at creating a more favorable congressional map.
But in Florida, where Republicans hoped to pick up as many as four new seats, the plan looked to be falling short. Republicans moved Democratic Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz into the same district — only to have them run in different territories and win. Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor won in metro Tampa, while others were holding their own as early returns were being counted across Florida.
Other Trump choices could prove costly. In Texas, Trump worked to oust longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in favor of scandal-plagued Attorney General Ken Paxton, setting the stage for an expensive race against Democratic nominee James Talarico, who Democrats hope may help them finally flip the state.
In North Carolina, Sen. Thom Tillis retired after clashing with Trump. Then Whatley, Trump's chosen replacement, struggled to gain traction against Cooper.
Other key Senate battlegrounds include Ohio, where Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted, and Alaska, where the Trump administration filed a lawsuit to block certification of Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses the race, citing the presence of a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot.
Republicans hope they can hold seats in Iowa, Kansas and Maine and pick up Michigan, where Mike Rogers faces progressive Abdul El-Sayed — one of a crop of left-wing candidates who prevailed in Democratic primaries. El-Sayed's former primary opponent, Haley Stevens, upended the race by endorsing Rogers, renewing focus on tensions over Israel and the party's direction.
In the House, Republicans are trying to hang on to their narrow majority, as Democrats aim to flip seats in states Trump repeatedly carried, from Florida to Texas to Iowa.
Beyond Washington, 36 states are electing governors. In early results, Democrats Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, JB Pritzker in Illinois, Wes Moore in Maryland, Maura Healey in Massachusetts and Kathy Hochul in New York all won reelection.
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms of Georgia will be the first Black female governor of any state. In neighboring Florida, Byron Donalds became the first Black Republican to be elected governor in the nation.
The results will shape the final two years of Trump’s second term. The Republican-controlled Congress acted as a rubber stamp to much of his agenda. While Trump has proven adept at steamrolling efforts to rein him in, Democrats taking control of even one chamber would open the floodgates to investigations and possible impeachments. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and tech titan Elon Musk, a former top Trump adviser, are among possible targets.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, in line to make history as the nation’s first Black speaker of the House if his party sweeps to power, has outlined a 100-day agenda focused on lowering the cost of living and aggressively overseeing the Trump administration.
An especially strong showing for Democrats could boost the party's large crop of potential presidential candidates. It could also complicate the paths of Vice President JD Vance and other Republicans who may be looking to turn their loyalty to Trump into momentum.
Associated Press journalists Linley Sanders, Aaron Kessler and Ali Swenson in Washington; Cody Jackson in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; and Allen Breed in Raleigh, N.C., contributed.
Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Chris Pappas, right, D-N.H., greets the crowd at an election night event, with Vann Bentley, left, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha)
North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper speaks at an election night event Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Ramey)
Event staff set the stage before Democratic Senate candidate Texas state Rep. James Talarico arrives to speak at an election night event in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
People cheer at an election ight event for Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Bangor, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Dr. Theopia Johnson Tate, of Atlanta, poses for a portrait at an election night event for Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Guests attend an election night event for Republican Senate candidate Mike Collins, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, greets supporters at an election night event Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Bangor, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Residents vote in the midterm elections at the Old Stone School in Hillsboro, Va., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
A Sheriff's Deputy and his dog inspect ballots at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in City of Industry, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Ballots are sorted on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in San Francisco.(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Brad Girod holds his 14-month-old daughter, Genevieve, as he votes on Election Day during the midterm election at a polling place in the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A woman votes at the Emery Heights Community Center, Tuesday Nov. 3, 2026, during the midterm elections in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A voting location is seen at the Greater Middle Baptist Church on Nov. 3, 2026 in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Kevin Wurm)
People cast their ballots at the polling place at the League for People with Disabilities in Baltimore on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
A woman votes at the Emery Heights Community Center, Tuesday Nov. 3, 2026, during the midterm elections in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Samantha Pounder, of Washington, confirms her address with a poll worker while voting with her daughters Aya, 3, left, and Sade, 6, at the Emery Heights Community Center, Tuesday Nov. 3, 2026, during the midterm elections in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
People move in line to cast their ballots at the polling place at the League for People with Disabilities in Baltimore on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Voters cast their ballots at Public School 321 elementary school in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A volunteer places a "Vote Here" sign at the Brooklyn Museum in New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Voters cast their ballots at the Brooklyn Museum in New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A volunteer sorts "I Voted" stickers at the Brooklyn Museum in New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A person walks to the City of Arlington South Service Center ahead of the polling place opening on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Josh Turek speaks during a campaign rally, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
People listen to Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is running for reelection, outside an agricultural business as she makes a campaign stop, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Van Buren, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduces Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed during a campaign rally at Eastern Michigan University, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Ypsilanti, Mich. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to members of the media before sign-waving with supporters at the edge of Midtown Mall, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
People wait in line to cast their ballot at a polling location open for early voting at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Wasilla, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
