TAKE ACTION: Call on Congress to Ensure Long-term Protections for our New Afghan Neighbors
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As Deputy Director, Michele Garnett McKenzie, recounts in her recent Women's Press blog, as tens of thousands of people have fled Afghanistan, the Biden administration has scrambled to respond. But the precipitous speed of the evacuation and nuanced U.S. immigration laws mean that, while the people arriving to the US may meet the definition of a refugee, they likely have no long-term status. Without special legislation, tens of thousands of people will need to file applications for asylum-which will require preparing lengthy forms in English, compiling piles of evidence, and facing numerous bars from protections by Byzantine and discriminatory US law. This process risks overwhelming under-resourced and overburdened asylum systems and service providers like The Advocates, and leaving thousands in limbo, unless the U.S. Congress passes an Afghan Adjustment Act.
This is a bipartisan issue, and it isn't charting new territory-the U.S. successfully implemented a similar program to process those fleeing harms after U.S. withdrawal in Vietnam and recently passed special legislation for Liberians who have been in the U.S. long-term. While the U.S. failed to implement the lessons learned from Vietnam in properly evacuating Afghans, we must learn from that case and pass an Afghan Adjustment Act in addition to instituting human rights-based foreign policies that ensure such situations never happen again.
To help Afghan evacuees now, please:
Take Action: Urge the Biden Administration and Congress to Protect & Welcome Our Afghan Neighbors. Contact Your Senators and Representative Today!
Donate. As we've previously shared, up to 2,000 Afghan evacuees have begun resettling in Minnesota. They will need The Advocates' help to obtain permanent legal status in the U.S. before their humanitarian visas expire. We must fight for a just immigration system, and we must help individual migrants find safety. The path is long, complicated, and always shifting. Please support this life-changing work. Our $50,000 match is still active. If you haven't made a donation yet, please give today to double your impact.
Document: Afghan Adjustment Act Fact Sheet 11.2021.pdf