The Ahmed v. DHS Afghan asylum settlement, approved in September 2023, required U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to work through roughly 20,000 long-pending asylum applications from Afghan evacuees on a fixed schedule, capped by an October 31, 2025, expiration date. By the time it ended, the government had adjudicated more than 18,000 of those cases and granted asylum in nearly all of them. The legal picture for Afghans who came to the U.S. after the fall of Kabul has since gotten worse, not better.
What the Lawsuit Challenged
Congress had already set a deadline. The Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act, signed on September 30, 2021, required USCIS to interview Afghan parolees within 45 days of an asylum filing and issue a final decision within 150 days.1USCIS. Asylum Backlog Response to Representative Barr USCIS did not meet it. By April 2023, the agency had received more than 15,600 applications from Afghan evacuees and decided only about 1,700 of them, roughly 11 percent.2National Immigrant Justice Center. Ahmed et al. v. DHS et al. — Challenging Adjudication Delays for Afghan Asylum Seekers
A class action filed in the Northern District of California on April 19, 2023, put those delays in front of Judge Jon S. Tigar. The class covered roughly 20,000 Afghan asylum seekers, including former U.S. government employees, women’s rights advocates, healthcare workers, teachers, and journalists.3National Immigrant Justice Center. Afghan People Seeking Asylum Reach Landmark Settlement With U.S. Government in Class Action The parties settled before any of the pending motions were decided. The agreement was executed on September 6, 2023, and approved on September 11, 2023.4USCIS. Settlement Agreement, Ahmed v. DHS
What the Settlement Required
The agreement built a staircase of adjudication deadlines, each covering a larger slice of the pending cases:
- By October 31, 2023: decide 50 percent of applications filed on or before June 3, 2023, with at least 85 percent of those having been pending more than 150 days.
- By December 31, 2023: decide 65 percent of applications filed on or before August 3, 2023, under the same 85-percent-pending threshold.
- By April 30, 2024: decide 90 percent of applications filed on or before December 2, 2023.
- By June 30, 2024: decide 90 percent of applications filed on or before February 1, 2024, that had been pending more than 150 days.
- Ongoing: for applications filed on or after February 2, 2024, decide at least 90 percent within 150 days of filing.3National Immigrant Justice Center. Afghan People Seeking Asylum Reach Landmark Settlement With U.S. Government in Class Action
DHS and USCIS also had to file public status reports every 30 days, both with the court and on the USCIS website, showing how many applications had been received, adjudicated, granted, denied, administratively closed, or referred to immigration court, along with the percentage still pending and the average processing time. The court kept jurisdiction to enforce the deal. The settlement was set to expire on October 31, 2025, with an early-termination clause available if fewer than 200 class-member applications remained pending.4USCIS. Settlement Agreement, Ahmed v. DHS
Did the Government Comply
Largely, yes. As of January 16, 2024, the government reported adjudicating 67 percent of the applications due by the December 31, 2023, deadline, clearing the 65-percent target.5Kirkland & Ellis. U.S. Government Meets CAS Requirements for Afghan People Seeking Permanent Immigration Protection By May 2024, more than 18,000 applications had been decided, with DHS finding applicants ineligible for asylum in only about 60 cases — a denial rate near 0.3 percent. About 2,400 applications were still pending at that point, roughly 1,600 of them already past 150 days.6Kirkland & Ellis. Thanks to Historic Settlement, U.S. Government Close to Meeting Requirements for Afghan Asylum Seekers The most recent public status report on the USCIS site carries a data date of November 11, 2025, just after the settlement expired.7USCIS. USCIS Class Action, Settlement Notices and Agreements
The New Threats to Afghan Evacuees
The settlement solved a timing problem. It did not create permanent status. When the administration changed in January 2025, several policies converged to put Afghan evacuees back at risk of removal.
Parole Terminations
Executive Order 14165, signed January 20, 2025, restricted categorical parole programs and led to the termination of parole for thousands of Afghan evacuees. Some received notices of intent to remove them with deadlines as short as seven days, even while they had pending asylum claims or valid work authorizations.8ReliefWeb. Welcoming Allies to Threats of Deportation — Changing Status of Afghans in America
The End of TPS for Afghanistan
On April 11, 2025, DHS announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Afghan nationals, affecting more than 9,000 people. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the agency had determined that Afghanistan “no longer continues to meet the statutory requirement for TPS.”9Middle East Institute. Thousands of Once-Protected Afghan Refugees in the United States Face Deportation Those affected were told to self-deport by May 20, 2025, and TPS formally ended on July 12, 2025.10Afghan-American Foundation. EO Crisis
The High-Risk-Country Asylum Freeze
In December 2025, USCIS issued a policy memorandum halting all pending asylum applications and other benefit requests filed by nationals of 19 countries designated “high-risk” under Presidential Proclamation 10949, Afghanistan among them. The policy also opened a retrospective review of benefits previously approved for nationals of those countries who entered the U.S. on or after January 20, 2021.11KPMG. Flash Alert 2025-259 A separate December 2025 proclamation suspended entry of foreign nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, citing “persistent, chronic vetting deficiencies.”12The White House. Restricting and Limiting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States
On June 5, 2026, U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. struck down the broader asylum-freeze policy, ruling it “contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.” He found the administration had acted without reasoned explanations and cited what he described as pretextual national-security concerns masking anti-immigrant sentiments.13PBS NewsHour. Judge Strikes Down Trump Policy That Halted Asylum Decisions for 39 Countries
Where Things Stand Now
The Ahmed settlement expired on October 31, 2025. Its narrow purpose was met: over 18,000 class-member cases decided, almost all granted. Its limits are just as clear. The agreement never addressed permanent status for the roughly 70,000 Afghans admitted under humanitarian parole through Operation Allies Welcome, whose two-year parole carried no automatic path to a green card.14Baker Institute for Public Policy. 3 Years After Fall of Kabul, U.S. Congress Has Still Not Acted to Secure Future of More Than 70,000 Afghan
The Afghan Adjustment Act, which would let evacuees apply directly for permanent residency, has been reintroduced in each Congress since 2022 and is pending in the 119th Congress as H.R. 4895. It has not been enacted.15Congress.gov. H.R.4895 — Afghan Adjustment Act With TPS terminated, parole revoked for many, and the high-risk-country asylum freeze recently struck down but the underlying entry proclamation still in place, Afghan nationals already in the United States face a legal footing that shifts case by case and policy by policy.