Zoe Desch
As U.S. forces completed their chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 30, 2021, the DC commentariat turned its focus to Washington’s failure to extract those Afghans who had worked with us, as well as professional women – including members of Parliament – who were believed to be in danger from the new government.
However, a year and a half later, Washington seems to have largely forgotten about those same people.
Some remain trapped in Afghanistan, while others were able to flee to neighboring countries or Europe, but even those who have made it to the United States have been unable to find stability because of a lack of follow-through by Congress and the Biden administration. Despite the promises of safe haven made to Afghans who, often at great risk, worked alongside U.S. forces and civilian advisers, their fate has been rendered uncertain by the polarizing politics of U.S. immigration policy.
Even those Afghans lucky enough to gain refugee status in the U.S. face ongoing barriers to fully settling into their new home. Indeed, their humanitarian parole status on which they were permitted to enter the country will expire as early as September 30, although, according to a recent leak, the Department of Homeland Security intends to renew their parole. While that is welcome news to the many refugees facing the upcoming deadline, such an action will simply push back the deadline without providing long-term solutions, like streamlining the bureaucratic process or increasing funding for those under-resourced agencies tasked with handling several refugee waves.
Legislative fixes are needed, but Congress has been unable to muster the will to enact a bill to settle the Afghans’ status – despite lawmakers’ bipartisan declarations of support for the new refugees in the wake of Washington’s hurried withdrawal back in August 2021. Still pending are the Afghan Adjustment Act and the Afghan Allies Act, both of which attempt to streamline the process for permanent legal status on the pathway to citizenship. If neither is passed, Afghan refugees' futures will be left to the whims of current U.S. immigration politics.
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