Nearly 80,000 Afghans evacuated by the American military last August, live under a cloud of complete uncertainty, with no guarantee of how much longer they can stay in the United States.
Many of these Afghans have served alongside the American forces or American-affiliated companies and organizations in the past two decades across Afghanistan, putting their lives in grave danger after the collapse of the previous government to the de facto regime in August 2021. Apparently, the fate of these Afghans largely depends on the decision of Congress and America’s promise to rescue their Afghan counterparts.
The Afghan Adjustment Act, a bipartisan bill, seems to be the ideal way for Afghan evacuees who moved to the United States through humanitarian parole, a temporary allowance to enter and remain in the United States for one or two years, respectively. The Afghan Adjustment Act will also enhance the permanent resettlement of Afghan evacuees and improves their lives to a great extent.
At this stage, if a bill is not passed by the end of this year, it will further complicate the legal status of Afghans who are already residing in the United States for their humanitarian parole visas will soon expire. They will face the burden of the asylum process and the fear of losing their jobs and being deported to a third country.
Meanwhile, the Afghan evacuees have been serving in different sectors and paying taxes with no future certainty that they can continue living in the United States forever. Therefore, ignoring this critical concern is equally painful as leaving thousands of Afghan allies and friends behind face immediate threats under the current administration of Afghanistan.—KP
