[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 120 (Monday, July 14, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S4327]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I remember 9/11 very well. I was in this 
building meeting with Senator Daschle just down the hall, and we heard 
news that a plane had struck a building in New York. By the time I made 
it to the meeting, it turned out there was a second plane that had done 
the same.
  Madam President, 9/11 was clearly no accident. It was a terrorist 
act. As a result of that terrorist act, we made decisions as a nation 
on a bipartisan basis. One of the most bipartisan decisions we made was 
what to do with those who were responsible--Osama bin Laden and others. 
There was no doubt in my mind that we had to answer what they did with 
force--no doubt whatsoever. I am not inclined to that conclusion on an 
ordinary basis, but I saw no other alternative but to send the world a 
message that no one could kill so many innocent Americans and not be 
held personally responsible.
  So there was a vote on the floor--not for the invasion of Iraq but 
for the invasion of Afghanistan to go after the terrorists, Osama bin 
Laden and his terrorist group. I voted for it. Every Senator of both 
political parties voted for it. The same thing was true in the House 
with only one exception. It was a decision we made to get involved in 
Afghanistan. As reluctant as I was to see us get into war, I felt we 
had no choice--no choice whatsoever than to make that clear. So we went 
in and engaged in that battle for one of the longest wars in our 
history.
  Eventually, under President Obama, we found Osama bin Laden and 
removed him from this Earth and many of his followers as well. But we 
paid a price as well.
  The men and women of the United States stood behind Congress's 
decision and enlisted in our services and risked their lives in combat 
in Afghanistan. It was a terrible assignment. They did it honorably. 
They did it effectively.
  One of the keys to their success in eliminating Osama bin Laden and 
many of his followers was the support of some Afghan people who risked 
their own lives to step up and help American soldiers. Day in and day 
out, these men and women joined our forces, trying to put an end to the 
terrorism we knew on 9/11.
  At the end of the conflict, some of those Afghans who risked their 
lives to help American soldiers came to the United States, and they 
were given what is known as temporary protected status, meaning they 
could stay in this country until the dangers in their home country had 
abated.
  TPS is a temporary designation allowing certain foreign nationals 
from countries experiencing turmoil to remain here without fear of 
being deported--back to Afghanistan in this case.
  TPS was first designated for Afghans under the Biden administration 
in 2022 after we withdrew from Afghanistan, marking the end of 
America's longest war.
  For over two decades, tens of thousands of Afghan civilians worked 
alongside our military and diplomats. Make no mistake, they were 
risking their lives to help us and faced the possibility of retribution 
in their own country. I saw firsthand during a visit to Afghanistan 
some years ago just how these Afghans were making that courageous 
sacrifice. And the lives of their families, of course, were also in 
danger because of it.
  In return, we promised to the Afghans who risked their lives to help 
our troops that we would keep them safe from retaliation, and we opened 
our arms to welcome others, some of them fleeing brutal conditions 
under the Taliban.
  In fact, Afghanistan today also faces the horrors of an 
administration that has not delivered for their people: record 
malnutrition, shortages of basic medicine, horrible repression of women 
and girls, and instability that threatens the entire region.
  Listen to this carefully. The State Department--our State 
Department--has put out a notice that Americans should not travel to 
Afghanistan because it is too dangerous. So why, why are we facing the 
situation where this Trump administration is going to eliminate 
temporary protected status for the Afghans in the United States, 
including those who risked their lives to help our troops? Why would we 
send them back to a country so dangerous we warn Americans not to 
visit? We are also planning on closing, according to President Trump, 
the very office at the Department of State that protects these 
vulnerable Afghans here in the United States.

  Now, with the lifting of this TPS designation, these Afghans already 
legally in the United States--including some who risked their lives to 
help us--may face detention and deportation, returning to horrific 
conditions in their homeland.
  I urge the President in the strongest terms to reconsider this. It is 
not just the fate of these Afghans, but it is the reputation of the 
United States. God forbid we are ever in another conflict in some 
country and turn to the local population to stand by us and risk their 
lives to help us and when they agree, turn our backs on them again. 
That is not what a great nation does.
  I think most Americans feel particularly that Afghans who risked 
their lives to help our troops deserve better than to be forced to 
return to the danger of Afghanistan.
  This decision is a sad one for America. I think we are better than 
this. I am sorry the Afghans who risked their lives to help our troops 
are now being abandoned by the Trump administration.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.

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