US President Donald Trump has moved to terminate temporary protection for Afghans legally living in the United States, according to Reuters. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the decision on April 12, which will affect more than 14,000 Afghans currently in the US under temporary legal protection.

Those individuals were able to live in the US under a designation called “temporary protected status” or TPS.

Since taking office in January, President Trump has attempted to eliminate TPS protections for several nationalities as part of its wider effort to tighten immigration policies, both legal and otherwise.

According to Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary, the current conditions in Afghanistan no longer met the criteria for TPS.

The decision has quickly drawn criticism from refugee groups, such as the non-profit organization Global Refuge which called the revocation of the TPS for Afghans “a morally indefensible betrayal”. The organization stated that if they return to Afghanistan, they could face persecution by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities.

“Afghanistan today is still reeling from Taliban rule, economic collapse, and humanitarian disaster. Nothing about that reality has changed,” Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, the President of Global Refuge said.

Before and during the withdrawal, the US evacuated more than 82,000 Afghans and all of them were granted temporary “parole” or other legal statuses based on their direct work with the US government.

This is not the first time that Trump has tried to revoke the TPS, he sought to end most TPS enrollment during his 2017-2021 presidency but was thwarted by federal courts.

During the counterinsurgency against the Taliban, many Afghans who supported the US missions, along with their families have primarily resettled in the United States through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program and the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. However, a significant number of Afghans are still awaiting approval for their SIVs. According to Andrew Sullivan, executive director of No One Left Behind—a group that supports SIV recipients—TPS has provided an important measure of stability during this waiting period.

The move came at a time when the US was engaged in talks with the Taliban, covering topics such as the status of the now-defunct US embassy, a potential prisoner swap, and the possibility of a US takeover of Bagram Airfield.