Many may not have even realized it, but when the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration abruptly pulled out of Afghanistan in 2022, leaving billions of dollars in equipment behind, it flew many thousands out of that nation into the United States and gave them a special "temporary protected status (TPS)."
That temporary status is applied to those from countries that are classified as war zones or to have suffered natural disasters, people whose lives would be at risk if they return home.
The Trump administration, however, announced that such protected status will be removed, resulting in the possible deportation of nearly 15,000 Afghans and 7,900 Cameroonians (displaced residents of a coastal nation of Africa) who were flown to America by the US government.
The special status was first given to Afghans in 2021 when turmoil exploded during battles with member of the Taliban.
But in a statement late Friday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem's office said it had made the decision to end the protected status of those who had fled the nation, which borders Iran.
"The Secretary determined that Afghanistan no longer continues to meet the statutory requirements for its TPS designation and so she terminated TPS for Afghanistan," DHS also said.
The New York Times reported on Friday that DHS has already decided to revoke the status of refugees of Cameroon refugees, too.
Both Cameroonians and Afghans could be eligible for deportation in just a few weeks.
DHS last month also revoked the protected status of refugees from the troubled nation of Venezuela, but the move was blocked two weeks ago by a federal judge.