The Afghans at risk of deportation
Afghan refugees evacuated from Kabul board a bus after arriving at the Al Udeid military base in Qatar on Aug. 31, 2021. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)
This month Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the administration's termination of temporary protected status, or TPS, for Afghans, exposing thousands, potentially, to deportation as soon as next week, when the policy is to take effect.
Today on 'Post Reports,' national security reporter Abigail Hauslohner explains.
Today's show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy and mixed by Sean Carter. It was edited by Maggie Penman. Thank you to Andy deGrandpre, Hasiba Atakpal, Spojmie Nasiri, Shala Gafary, Negina Khalili, Helal Massomi.
Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
What is the Strait of Hormuz? Why Iran has threatened to close it after US conflict
As Iran and Israel enter a ceasefire on June 24, the future of the conflict and U.S. involvement remains on unsteady ground, following Iran's retaliatory strike on an overseas U.S. military base one day prior. Turmoil continues to roil the Middle East in a 12-day conflict that reached new heights June 21 after President Donald Trump authorized a series of U.S. missile strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities. Ever since, world leaders, markets and Americans have speculated how Iran might respond, with the first action of retaliation seen on June 23 when Iran fired several missiles at the largest U.S. military base in the region just outside of Doha, Qatar. New Poll: Majority of Americans disapprove of US strikes on Iran Live Updates: Angry Trump says both sides broke ceasefire, tells Israel to 'calm down' While it is unclear if Iran's strikes on the Al Udeid Air Base marked the end of its response, the Islamic Republic still has another chess piece at its disposal should the conflict continue: the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a major oil transportation route, ferrying around 20% of the world's oil and gas flow. The narrow channel, whittling down to just 21 miles across at one point, connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the wider Arabian Sea. The waterway's choke point is sandwiched by the Iranian coastline to one side and a small Omani peninsula on the other. Replay: President Donald Trump addresses the nation after US bombs Iran It is a vital route for exporting oil from major producers like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, and the UAE. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital artery for global energy flows, accounting for about 25% of global seaborne oil shipments and about 20% of liquified natural gas flows. Iran has threatened to mine the strait in recent days to effectively block the transportation of oil, a disruption that would likely result in higher fuel costs for global consumers, including Americans, analysts told USA TODAY. If oil prices surge, the price of almost everything goes up as well. Iran's parliament approved a measure the day after U.S. airstrikes hit three of its nuclear facilities, endorsing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, making it a possible option for retaliation, though the decision to close the channel ultimately belongs to Iran's Supreme National Security Council. Contributing: Medora Lee and Savannah Kuchar, USA TODAY; Reuters. Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@ and on X @KathrynPlmr. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is the Strait of Hormuz? Iran threatens to close route
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Khamenei claims victory; Hegseth says strikes were 'decimating': Live updates
Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the Mideast conflict from Thursday, June 26. For the latest news on the Iran-Israel conflict, read USA TODAY's live updates on the conflict for Friday, June 27. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Thursday that any future attacks against Iran would come at a great cost to Israel and its allies, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth doubled down on Trump administration claims that U.S. bombs devastated Iran's nuclear program. In a statement released on social media, Khamenei said assaults such as the one on a U.S. base in Qatar on Monday could be repeated if Iran is struck again. The rockets fired by Iran were intercepted and little damage was reported at the base. President Donald Trump said Iran had provided advance notice of the missile launch, which amounted to a face-saving attempt at retaliation after the U.S. dropped 14 bombs on Iranian nuclear sites last weekend. "The Islamic Republic delivered a heavy slap to the U.S.'s face,'' Khamenei said in the statement, which claimed the U.S. entered the conflict to save Israel, but achieved nothing.'' Khamenei, who also made televised remarks in his first public appearance since last week, congratulated Iranians for their "victory" over Israel and the U.S., and he pledged that Iran will never submit to other countries' will. "It is no longer about enrichment, nor about the nuclear industry − it is about Iran's surrender," he said. "Iran, with its grandeur, its history, its culture, its unbreakable national resolve − the very notion of surrender for such a country is a joke to those who know the Iranian people." Talks next week: U.S., Iran to hold talks after bombing of nuclear sites How Iranian Americans feel: Helpless, hopeless amid turmoil Developments: ∎ Israel would have killed Khamenei if it had a chance during the countries' 12-day war, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told Kan public television Thursday. "Khamenei understood this, went underground to very great depths and broke off contacts with the commanders who replaced those commanders who were (killed), so it wasn't realistic in the end,' he said. ∎ Ships near the Strait of Hormuz have been sending uncommon signals regarding nationality in an effort to avoid being attacked amid a fragile truce between Israel and Iran, according to maritime risk analytics firm Windward and ship-tracking data. Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the Iranian program sustained "enormous damage" from the strikes launched by Israeli and U.S. forces. "The attacks that began (by Israel) on June 13 resulted in very significant physical damage to three sites − Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, where Iran had concentrated most of its activities related to uranium enrichment and conversion," Grossi told French radio. He added that other nuclear sites in Iran were not affected. "What I can tell you, and I think everyone agrees on this, is that there is very considerable damage," he said. Hegseth dug in on the Trump administration's pushback on a preliminary Pentagon report into the damage incurred by Iran's nuclear facilities from the U.S. strikes over the weekend. The 30,000-pound bombs, known as ''bunker busters,'' were "decimating − choose your word − obliterating, destroying," he said at a news conference. The Pentagon assessment, Hegseth said, was a "preliminary, low-confidence report" that relied on "multiple lynchpin assumptions." A U.S. official who has been briefed on the Defense Intelligence Agency's initial assessment told USA TODAY the core components of Iran's nuclear program appear to remain intact after the attack. The official briefed on the report said only portions of the report were labeled low confidence. But Hegseth directed combative comments at the media Thursday, blaming press outlets for "trying to make the president look bad." He called the strikes "historic." "It was a resounding success resulting in a ceasefire agreement and the end of the 12-day war," he said. Depending on their party, senators had predictably contrasting reactions to Thursday's classified briefing about last weekend's U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, which Trump said from the beginning "obliterated'' the facilities. Sen Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, said Trump was 'deliberately misleading the public' about the extent of the damage, adding that a classified Pentagon report about the bombing appears to be accurate. That report indicates the bombing only set back the Iranian nuclear program by months, and didn't completely destroy the sites. 'I just do not think the president was telling the truth when he said this program was obliterated,' said Murphy, who concluded after the briefing that Iran's nuclear program was only delayed 'by a handful of months.' Sen Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, disagreed, saying after the briefing he believes the strikes set back Iran's nuclear efforts by years. 'They blew these places up in a major league way, major league setback, years, not months,' Graham said. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut who's a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Iran remains a threat because it may still have the enriched uranium and centrifuges that could enable the regime to reconstitute its nuclear program. 'There is no reason for comfort or complacency that the threat has been eliminated or obliterated,' Blumenthal said. 'How severe and how long the setback is in months or more remains to be determined in a final battle-damage assessment.' − Zac Anderson and Tom Vanden Brook Airstrikes have never been viewed by experts as sufficient to ending Iran's nuclear program, according to Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat on the House intelligence committee. Years of briefings, secret and unclassified, have stressed that, Quigley said in an interview. 'No one expects them to obliterate anything,' Quigley said. 'No one expects this to end the operation. The targets are hard targets, deep targets, mobile targets. So it was never meant to eliminate the program. It was never meant to do anything but slow the program. And that's fine as long as you understand it.' The briefings also have reached the same conclusion, he said. The House is scheduled to be briefed on the June 21 attack on Friday. 'The final thing we've always been told is the only way to end the program is with a lot of troops on the ground for a long time,' Quigley said. 'A war.' Quigley dismissed Trump's assertion that Iran's nuclear program had been eliminated. Damage assessments, particularly on hostile terrain, take time. 'This is classic Trump hyperbole,' Quigley said. 'He can't have a half-ass victory.' − Tom Vanden Brook White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday there is no meeting scheduled yet between U.S. and Iranian officials, but that one is in the works. Trump said Wednesday at the NATO summit in the Netherlands that a meeting would take place but an agreement was not necessary because the bombing mission he ordered had "obliterated'' Iran's nuclear weapons program and effectively ended the war with Israel. He said he did not see Iran continuing to pursue nuclear weapons. Asked what the purpose and goals of the meeting are, Leavitt said: 'To continue moving forward toward a long-standing peace in the Middle East.' Iran has no current plans to meet with U.S. officials and is still evaluating the benefits of holding talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Thursday. Tehran has repeatedly denied decades of accusations by Western leaders that its nuclear program sought to develop nuclear arms. But Tehran has also adamantly refused to abandon its uranium-enrichment program. − Bart Jansen After the briefing, Trump posted on social media that it was "one of the greatest, most professional, and most 'confirming' News Conferences I have ever seen! The Fake News should fire everyone involved in this Witch Hunt, and apologize to our great warriors, and everyone else!" Trump also refuted claims that activity around the targeted nuclear sites indicated Iran had moved uranium and other valuable components of its program. "The cars and small trucks at the site were those of concrete workers trying to cover up the top of the shafts," Trump wrote. "Nothing was taken out of facility. Would take too long, too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!" Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military began to receive preliminary reports that Iran wanted to attack U.S. bases on Monday. At Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which Iran targeted with missiles, and other bases, the military assumed minimum-force posture and extended the security perimeter, Caine said at a news conference. Only two Patriot air defense systems and about 44 soldiers remained on base, Caine said. The oldest soldier was a 28-year-old captain and the youngest was a 21-year-old soldier. "We believe that this is the largest single Patriot engagement in U.S. history," Caine said. "I'm not going to tell you how many" missile interceptors were fired, "but it was a bunch," he said. Trump said 13 of the 14 Iranian missiles were intercepted and the other one was deemed nonthreatening. Key parts of Iran's nuke program intact: Pentagon report disputed by Trump The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, said Democrats should be satisfied with a briefing on the Iran bombing held with Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Caine. 'I think the answers they got in there should be totally satisfactory,' Cotton said. 'We've caused catastrophic damage to Iran's nuclear program.' Cotton said it wasn't part of the mission to destroy all 400 kilograms of Iran's enriched uranium. 'It's not a 'Mission: Impossible' movie,' he said. --Bart Jansen Some Iranian Americans are dismayed at American involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict and fear for those still in Iran, saying a resurgence in violence could ripple around the world. Neda Bolourchi, executive director of the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, has lobbied Congress to help Iranian Americans stay in touch with family and friends in Iran during times of crisis. Reza Rajebi, an Iranian-born novelist and physician who now lives in Houston, said he worries daily about those still living in his homeland. 'Like many in the diaspora, I live in two worlds,' said Rajebi, who came to the U.S. in 2005 and writes under the pen name Diako Hazhir. 'One is here in the U.S, where I work, making a living and care for my family. The other is in my mind, always carrying the weight of anxiety for those I love and all the people in Iran who have no escape.' Read more here. − Marc Ramirez and Terry Collins A coalition of largely progressive advocacy groups sent a letter to lawmakers Thursday urging them to rein in Trump's authority for future strikes against Iran. The letter, led by Muslim civil rights group MPower Change, presses Congress to pass a war powers resolution to put 'an end to all illegal and unauthorized offensive military attacks against Iran.' The letter further argues 'there is no military solution to security concerns around Iran's nuclear program.' The letter's more than 60 signatories include human rights groups, religious groups like the Quaker-affiliated Friends Committee on National Legislation and foreign policy groups like the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Three war powers resolutions are currently pending in Congress. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, introduced one in the Senate that will likely receive a vote on Thursday or Friday before the body begins debate on the budget reconciliation bill. Kaine authored a similar bill that passed Congress in 2020 amid a previous round of tensions with Iran, but Trump vetoed the measure. Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, reiterated in an interview with CNBC the administration's position that Iran – deemed by the U.S. a state sponsor of terrorism – can't be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. 'We can't have weaponization,'' Witkoff said. 'That will destabilize the entire region. Everyone will then need a bomb and we just can't have that.'' Trump said he was confident Tehran would pursue a diplomatic path toward reconciliation. "I'll tell you, the last thing they want to do is enrich anything right now. They want to recover," he said. Iran's war with Israel has revealed the weakness of Tehran's leadership and could lead to regime change in a peaceful revolution, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi said. Ebadi made the prediction as a fragile ceasefire appeared to be holding. The conflict has been devastating in Iran. The Human Rights Activist News Agency put the Iranian death toll at more than 1,000. Thousands more were wounded in the intense missile attacks. Hundreds of Iranians have been detained on political and security charges as the government works to retain its grip on power. Ebadi, a lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work defending human rights, has been a staunch critic of the Shi'ite Muslim clerical establishment that has ruled Iran since 1979. "The people of Iran and the world saw that and realized what a paper tiger this administration is," Ebadi told Reuters in an interview in London, where she has lived in self-imposed exile since 2009. Deadly Israel-Iran conflict is 'over': Trump declares at NATO: Live updates The U.S. intelligence community has been consistent: It does not believe Iran has been building a nuclear weapon. U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said as much when she testified to Congress about Iran's nuclear program in March. U.S. spy agencies, Gabbard said, 'continue to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003." Trump and Netanyahu dismissed that assessment. Trump has doubted U.S. intelligence agencies before − for example, over who was responsible for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi (it was Saudi Arabia). Netanyahu, meanwhile, has been talking about Iran's existential nuclear threat to Israel for as along as he's been in the public eye. Still, U.S. intelligence agencies, Trump, Netanyahu and the United Nations' nuclear watchdog − the International Atomic Energy Agency − agree on the issue of Iran's uranium. All believe Iran has developed a large stockpile, and at a sufficiently enriched level, to sustain a nuclear reaction that could be used in a bomb if it decided to. But how quickly Iran could then "sprint to a nuclear weapon," as Gen. Michael E. Kurilla put it on June 10, is also a matter of dispute, and estimates range from one week to one year. −Kim Hjelmgaard Trump ordered the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities − Operation Midnight Hammer − effectively joining a war that Israel started on June 13 when it began bombing Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure. Israel said it helped the U.S. coordinate and plan the strikes. Trump said all three sites were "totally obliterated." A Pentagon assessment was less definitive, and Iran says its nuclear program will hardly skip a beat. The actual damage and the impact on Iran's program could become more clear in coming days. Contributing: Reuters This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iran-Israel live updates: Khamenei claims victory over Israel
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
India rejects statement by Pakistan seeking to blame it for Waziristan attack
(Reuters) -India's ministry of external affairs said on Sunday it rejects a statement by the Pakistan Army seeking to blame India for Saturday's attack in Waziristan. A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a Pakistani military convoy in a town near the Afghan border, killing at least 13 soldiers, the Pakistan army said on Saturday. The convoy was attacked in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan district, the army said in a statement.
