ICE Plans To Route Afghan Deportations Through Pakistan To Afghanistan
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to deport nearly 200 Afghan nationals by flying them to Pakistan and then sending them overland into Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, a U.S. official told CBS News.[1]
ICE officer Sergio Aguilar said in a court declaration that a charter flight scheduled for Nov. 3 would leave from Alexandria, Louisiana, land in Pakistan, and have deportees moved overland to Afghanistan.[1] Attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said two Afghan clients were told they would be flown to Pakistan and then taken to Afghanistan by land, without details on who would move them or how.[1]
On Oct. 30, 2026, Aguilar filed the declaration in the case Sadat v. Mullin describing the planned charter.[1] Judge Michael Nachmanoff ordered federal officials to clarify whether the charter would fly directly to Afghanistan or stop in Pakistan.[1] One detainee, Said Mansor Sadat, was later released after the judge found his continued detention violated due process.[1]
The Department of Homeland Security said deportees sent to third countries generally receive notice and that ICE secures diplomatic assurances about their safety.[1] DHS declined to confirm whether Pakistan had provided such assurances for this operation.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- A U.S. official told CBS News the Trump administration has planned to deport nearly 200 Afghan nationals by sending them first to Pakistan, which would then return them to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
- In an Oct. 30, 2026 declaration in Sadat v. Mullin, ICE officer Sergio Aguilar said a charter flight scheduled for Nov. 3 from Alexandria, Louisiana, would land in Pakistan, with deportees transported overland to Afghanistan.
- Attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said his two Afghan clients were told they would be flown to Pakistan and then taken to Afghanistan by land, without details on who would move them or how.
- Judge Michael Nachmanoff ordered federal officials to clarify whether the charter would fly directly to Afghanistan or stop in Pakistan; one detainee, Said Mansor Sadat, was later released after the judge found his continued detention violated due process.
- DHS said generally that deportees sent to third countries receive notice and that ICE secures diplomatic assurances about safety, but declined to confirm whether Pakistan had provided such assurances for this operation.
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