In the housing office of a refugee resettlement agency in Denver, a coworker and I work to color code the more than 150 Afghan refugee cases housed since October 2021, while scrolling through the backlog of an additional 125 cases that remain unhoused. The endless housing applications that have plagued our department since the inception of Operation Allies Welcome has demanded submitting dozens of applications weekly as we coordinate permanent housing like a machine.
Our office alone has seen the arrival of more individuals in the last six months than we had in the previous three years combined. An unprecedented coordinated lift between frontline staff and administration was created to meet the most basic of needs for our Afghan neighbors arriving daily.
In August 2021, in the midst of the fall of Kabul to the hands of the Taliban, the U.S. military coordinated the largest lift of humanitarian evacuees in American history. In an 18-day timeframe, the military evacuated 123,000 individuals to American soil. Upon arrival, Afghans underwent extensive screening processes at a variety of military bases, coined “safe havens” to begin life anew in the midst of the abrupt and tragic ending of previous livelihoods.
American refugee resettlement agencies began to see the increase in arrivals booked from safe havens in the early weeks of October 2021. Resettlement workers’ phones pinged around the clock with questions of access to medication, food, temporary housing and some questions as bold as looking for immediate employment. The most glaring question, however, was “What is my immigration status?”
Afghans airlifted out of Kabul in August 2021 were granted humanitarian parole status. This status grants individuals entry into the United States under the circumstances of extreme threat in home countries. Humanitarian parole has historically been granted under circumstances where American forces played a role in the crisis abroad.
While humanitarian parole granted immediate entry into the United States, it comes with the ultimatum of only two years of residency unless individuals shift to a more permanent immigration status or are under threat of deportation.
The reality of refugee resettlement includes tumultuous months of rebuilding livelihoods through logistical challenges such as housing, employment, and education, but also includes the abstract concerns of mental health well-being, and establishing a sense of place. With the circumstances of Afghan parolee status ending after two years, thousands of individuals are at risk of having their lives uprooted after 24 months of rebuilding.
These circumstances demand individuals apply for either asylum or SIV status, a Special Immigrant Visa given to individuals from Iraq and Afghanistan who are targeted because of their affiliation with the United States during the conflicts.
The asylum and SIV systems are both backlogged with tens of thousands of applications. Without a clear federally outlined program for the unique circumstances of these particular Afghan evacuees, applying for permanency would leave many individuals at a loss for navigating bureaucratic systems due to educational, language, and resource access barriers. With this knowledge, policymakers have proposed the Afghan Adjustment Act, which offers a path toward permanency for individuals who were uniquely evacuated out of the Afghan crisis in August 2021.
The Afghan Adjustment Act allows for certain Afghan evacuees the ability to apply for permanent status after one year of parole in the United States. With a tangible system to pursue permanency, families and individuals who have parolee status will be able to continue to live their lives free from risk of deportation or losing their jobs due to pending status. The adjustment of status also requires an additional rigorous vetting process ensuring the safety and efficacy of the Afghan Adjustment Act.
This is not unprecedented legislation. The Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA) of 1966 granted legal permanent residency to Cubans who were paroled for one year in the United States after immigrating to flee the rise of the Castro regime. The CAA was utilized for shifting status of 1.2 million individuals between 1966-1990, offering a solid cornerstone for Cuban individuals to rebuild their lives.
With the passing of the Afghan Adjustment Act, evacuated individuals would have access to the expedited process of shifting their current status to permanent residency, without threat of deportation. This adjustment would grant Afghan individuals and families the pathway towards permanency that is so desperately needed in order to ensure stability and adjustment to resettled life in the United States.
The inherent personhood of our Afghan neighbors is honored in the right to seek permanent safety in this country.
Whitney Buckendorf, housing coordinator at the International Rescue Committee in Denver
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