Afghans in the US have lost protected status. What happens now?

Published June 20, 2025 at 8:58 AM EDT

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Refugees walk through a terminal to a bus at Dulles International Airport after being evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan on August 31, 2021 in Dulles, Virginia.

Many Afghans who helped the US military or who were persecuted by the Taliban for other reasons found refuge in the United States. They were granted Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, by the US government.

Now the Trump administration has revoked TPS for Afghans. So what happens now?

NPR's Monika Evstatieva reports that for thousands of Afghans in the United States, and many stuck in limbo abroad, the available options are dwindling.

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