U.S. plans Afghan removals through Pakistan, ICE filing says

U.S. immigration authorities are preparing to deport detained Afghans through Pakistan, with a planned onward journey to Afghanistan, according to an ICE official’s sworn court declaration. The operation has not been confirmed as completed, and its final timing and number of deportees remain uncertain. The declaration, filed October 30 in a federal case, said a charter flight originally scheduled for November 3 would land in Pakistan before the Afghan national named in the case was transported overland to Afghanistan. The removal order identified Afghanistan as the intended destination. ICE supervisory officer Sergio Aguilar said he had initially understood the flight would land in Afghanistan, then learned Pakistan would be its destination. AfghanEvac, an organization supporting Afghan allies, said the administration was preparing to send more than 150 Afghans on a charter from Louisiana, possibly as soon as November 2. Its president, Shawn VanDiver, said he did not know what agreement Washington and Islamabad had reached. The State Department confirmed that an unspecified number of Afghans had been deported, but the reports describe the planned charter rather than confirming...