Veterans and Afghan allies walked side by side from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Nov. 11, pressing Congress to restore deportation protections for Afghans who assisted American forces.
The roughly two-mile march, organized by the nonprofit AfghanEvac, fell on Veterans Day. Participants checked in at 7:30 a.m., heard opening remarks, then walked to the Capitol for a moment of silence, a roll call and the delivery of a letter to members of Congress.
The event drew veterans, Afghan allies and their families, frontline civilians and faith community members, according to AfghanEvac's event page. Todd Schulte, president of the immigration advocacy group FWD.us, wrote on X that the walk had an "amazing turnout" and that many attendees were in Washington to ask lawmakers to sign a discharge petition for the Afghanistan Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Act.
Schulte also wrote on X that Reps. Scott Peters, Sam Liccardo and Greg Stanton attended the walk.
Deportation plans drive urgency
The march comes as the Trump administration has made plans to deport Afghan nationals in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody by routing them through Pakistan and then overland to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, CBS News reported. The U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban government, which complicates direct deportation.
In a sworn court declaration filed Oct. 30, ICE supervisory officer Sergio Aguilar wrote that a charter flight's "final destination would be Pakistan with further transport onward to Afghanistan," according to CBS News. A U.S. official told CBS News the plans were "still in flux."
Advocates warn the deportees include relatives of people who served alongside U.S. troops. Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and AfghanEvac's president, said in a statement reported by ABC News that the plan was "absolutely unconscionable."
Immigrant rights groups say those returned to Afghanistan could face retaliation from the Taliban, which has targeted former soldiers, police officers and families of anyone who worked with the United States, according to multiple news reports.
Courts step in, but protections are narrow
A federal judge in New York, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, barred the government from deporting five named Afghan nationals to Pakistan, Afghanistan or any other third country, extending emergency relief that had been set to expire Nov. 7, Social News XYZ reported. The order requires the government to give one week's notice before any planned removal of those five individuals.
That order does not protect all Afghans in the U.S. AfghanEvac has warned that ICE may resume deportation flights after Nov. 16, according to Khaama Press, though U.S. authorities have not publicly confirmed that timeline.
Discharge petition and the TPS Act
On Nov. 9, Reps. Jason Crow and Sam Liccardo filed a discharge petition to force a House floor vote on the Afghanistan TPS Act, H.R. 9899, according to the Kabul Tribune. The bill would designate Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status through July 1, 2029, restoring deportation protection and work authorization for Afghan nationals already in the country.
As of Nov. 9, the petition had 21 signatures, the Kabul Tribune reported. It needs 218 to bring the bill to the floor.
The Trump administration terminated Afghanistan's TPS designation in May 2025. The Department of Homeland Security estimated roughly 11,700 Afghan nationals held TPS at the time, according to the Kabul Tribune.
Rep. André Carson said on Wednesday, Nov. 11, that he co-sponsors the legislation, calling the potential deportations "cruel and wrong" and urging lawmakers to protect Afghans who supported American forces, Khaama Press reported.
The discharge petition needs 197 more signatures to reach the 218 threshold. Even if it clears the House, the bill would still need Senate passage and the president's signature to become law.
