Starting a new life in another country is very difficult: you have to find a house, get a job, apply for health insurance, enroll your children in school, buy a car.
For many Afghans who fled their country when the Taliban took power last year, the process also includes learning English and learning American culture.
Khalis Noori has been helping Afghans resettle in the United States. Noori assembled a 30-member all-Afghan team to carry out this mission, in great success. About 1,400 Afghans have resettled in Virginia since November, when Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a resettlement group, opened a facility in the area.
But that is only one important part of the job. Another major problem is their legal status: Will these Afghans, many of whom served alongside American forces in the 20-year war, become undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation?
This question hangs over the more than 77,000 Afghans who arrived in the US last summer. They are currently under temporary legal status and may seek permanent residency. But the American immigration system – slow-moving and complex under the best of circumstances – has been pushed back. It can take years, decades maybe, until the applications are approved. Although that is not guaranteed, it has thrown Afghan migrants into legal limbo.
Human rights organizations have been pressuring the government to reform. President Joe Biden in May called on Congress to create a path to citizenship for the Afghan evacuees. A bipartisan group of lawmakers this month introduced legislation called the Afghan Adjustment Act that would do just that.
Passing the bill would not only provide “peace of mind” to Afghan refugees, but show them that the United States has kept its word to allies now living on US soil, Noori said.
“If they do this, then history will not forget that,” said Noori, himself an Afghan immigrant. “The Afghan people will not forget that.”
‘A lot of them are in panic mode’
Most of the Afghan refugees came to the United States on a temporary legal status known as humanitarian parole, which expires after two years. This may interest you : US Attorney. The first year has already passed for some.
“Right now, a lot of them are in shock. They know they’re coming to the cloud,” said Megan Flores, executive director of the Immigrant and Refugee Outreach Center, which has helped settle Afghan refugees in Washington. , DC, metro area. “They don’t have anyone to help them, and we don’t have a lot of resources to point them to.”
In order to obtain legal permanent residence, Afghans who were allies of the US government can apply for a special immigrant visa. About 74,000 such requests — both from Afghans who are affiliated with the U.S. and those still in Afghanistan — have yet to be processed, Biden officials said last month.
Another option for Afghan refugees is to apply for asylum. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has a backlog of more than 400,000 asylum cases.
“Our asylum system is pretty broken. So they end up in a long queue of asylum applications which only adds to the stress of the unwanted people after they’ve already been through,” said Alicia Wrenn, director of resettlement and integration. Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, a non-profit that has served approximately 4,200 Afghan migrants.
Activists, militant groups, religious leaders, and refugee and humanitarian organizations have supported the Afghan Adjustment Act, which they say would allow immigrants to change their legal status to permanent residency.
“Unless there is a change in their status, they have no way of legal independence, permanent residency or citizenship,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of LIRS, which has served 13,500 Afghans across the country. “That was not the promise we made. We promised that, when they risk their lives to protect ours, we will keep them out of the way.”
The White House has expressed support for Congressional efforts to create a permanent settlement. Supporters of the bill said there was an urgent need to protect immigrants under the Biden administration, fearing a future administration that could become hostile to immigrants.
“Do we believe that this administration will do the expulsion, even if we don’t have the AAA pass? No,” said Vignarajah. “Do we believe that there is a risk that this is reaching the will of the future administration? Yes.”
Immigration, in general, is likely to once again be a hot topic during the 2024 presidential election, a campaign expected to begin in earnest following November’s midterm congressional elections.
Mr. Biden, a Democrat, has indicated that he will seek a second term, for four years, while the Republican field is more dependent on the fact that the former President of the country, Mr. Donald Trump, has decided to run despite the increasing problems.
It’s up to Congress to act
Congress passed similar immigration laws after the conflicts in Iraq, Vietnam, and Cuba, allowing immigrants from these countries to change their legal status in the United States from temporary to permanent. On the same subject : Sports betting in Florida: Has it been legalized, how to bet online, where to get picks, new promos.
Supporters of the Afghan coalition were disappointed by the lack of widespread influence on Capitol Hill. Some said the world’s focus this year on other domestic and foreign affairs, such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, has caused US officials to pay less attention to Afghans.
Mr. Biden initially called for permanent residency for Afghan refugees to be included in an emergency aid package for Ukraine in May, but Congress removed it from the bill.
Republicans at the time had raised concerns about the screening of Afghan passengers, pointing to a watchdog report that found some gaps in the process. Those leaving Afghanistan were screened before entering the US at American air bases in the Middle East and Europe, sometimes more than once.
Shawn VanDiver, a veteran who founded AfghanEvac, a coalition of more than 200 organizations dedicated to helping Afghan refugees, called Congress’ inaction “the most disappointing thing.”
“These people need our help,” VanDiver said of the Afghan refugees.
But the introduction of the Afghan Adjustment Act last week has revived hope that lawmakers can move forward with the issue. The Senate currently has five cosponsors, while the House bill has 43 cosponsors.
“Afghans worked as translators, worked as journalists, worked as human rights activists, women’s rights activists,” Noori said. “They promoted the American way of life in a different way in Afghanistan, and they were proud of that attitude.”
“For all these reasons, they should not only be rewarded” but taken “from this law,” he added.
In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban government. The goals of this attack were to eliminate al-Qaeda, which had carried out the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe place to operate in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban government from power.
Who is the leader of the Taliban?
Mullah Haibatullah Akhunzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, has attended a major meeting of religious leaders and officials in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. On the same subject : Analysis | In Afghanistan, the legacy of US failure lingers.
Who is the leader of the Taliban? Taliban leader Akhundzada is ready to implement a global community based on Sharia. Kabul [Afghanistan], August 19 (ANI): Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada on Thursday said that he is ready to make the region and the world within Sharia.
Who is the Taliban leader in Afghanistan now?
Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the leader of the Taliban, is the minister of defense of Afghanistan.
Was Afghanistan a Hindu country?
The history of Hinduism in Afghanistan can be traced back to Ancient times, before 3,400 years. Hinduism is said to have first flourished in the region during the Bronze Age and Indus Valley civilization, when Gandhara was the mahajanapada.
What is the primary religion of Afghanistan? Islam is the official religion of Afghanistan and the majority of the population is Muslim (nearly 99.7%).
What was the religion of Afghanistan before Islam?
Before Islam arrived in the seventh century, there were several religions practiced in present-day Afghanistan, including Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and Buddhism. The region of Kaffirstan, in the Hindu Kush, was not settled until the 19th century.
When was Hinduism in Afghanistan?
Prehistory and antiquity (3300â550 BCE) By 2000â1500 BCE, the Indo-Aryan inhabitants of this region (especially in the east and south of present-day Afghanistan) were Hindu supporters.
Who started the war in Afghanistan?
In 2001 an international coalition led by the USA entered Afghanistan to destroy the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization when the Taliban refused to hand over Osama bin Laden. British troops entered alongside US troops. At the height of the fighting there were over 130,000 NATO troops on the ground.
Who started the US war in Afghanistan? After the Taliban government refused to hand over terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the Al-Qaeda attack on September 11, 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan. The Taliban leadership quickly lost control of the country and moved to southern Afghanistan and across the border into Pakistan.
Why did US invade Afghanistan?
Dubbed “Operation Enduring Freedom” in US military parlance, the attack on Afghanistan was aimed at Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist organization, which was based in the country, as well as the isolated Taliban government that was in power. most of the world since 1996 and …
Which countries are friends of Afghanistan?
It has continued to maintain close relations with North America, the European Union, South Korea, Japan, Australia, India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the Greater Middle East (especially Turkey), as well as African countries.
Is Afghanistan a friend of China? The third Director-General of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Afghan government said, China is a good friend of Afghanistan.
Which countries support Afghan Taliban?
In recent months, at least four countries – China, Pakistan, Russia and Turkmenistan – have approved the Taliban’s appointed proxies, although all have refused to recognize the eight-month-old government in Afghanistan.
Are US and Afghanistan friends?
On July 7, 2012, as part of the Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement, the United States designated Afghanistan a major non-NATO ally after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Kabul to meet with President Karzai.
