Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT News
KABUL: Thousands of Afghans who fled the country after the takeover of the Taliban are reportedly living in uncertainty with no pathways to refugee status.
Tens of thousands of Afghan refugees were allowed into the U.S. after the chaotic American withdrawal from Afghanistan under humanitarian parole for two years. According to Department of Homeland Security, fewer than 5,000 of the 77,000 Afghans resettled in the U.S. have secured permanent legal status for themselves and their families.
The main stagnation has been the Congress ambivalence to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act amid fears by some Republicans that the Afghan refugees were not properly vetted and that some dangerous individuals slip into the U.S.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, who introduced the bill, told CBS News called for immediate action to pass the crucial bill. “Sitting around and not doing anything is just not an option here. What does it say to people around the world when they stand with America?”
There is currently a congressional mandate meant to expedite Afghan evacuee asylum cases, but the U.S. has been inundated with asylum requests from all over the world. There are over 700,000 urgent pending applications, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Recently USCIS postponed interviews for all affirmative asylum cases to deal with the implementation of a new asylum rule along the southern border.
This is as the Biden administration is allowing those Afghans to apply to stay and work in the country legally for at least another two years. This alleviated the immediate fears of losing their ability to work and live in the U.S. legally, but it doesn’t confer any kind of permanent status.
