Preparing for Passover is always a time of reflection, of gratitude for my freedom and opportunity, and of thoughts about how to move from whatever narrow place I’m stuck at.
This year, our history is resonating in a new way — the Israelite persecution at the hands of Pharaoh, the sudden and traumatic Exodus, the wandering in the desert for 40 years before finally arriving in our homeland. I can’t help but think of my Afghan friends and colleagues who are living out this story right now and are still wandering in the desert, waiting and hoping to be able to call the United States home.
In August of 2021, after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the United States undertook an emergency evacuation of Afghan allies — individuals whose lives were now in peril because of the lifesaving support they provided to U.S. troops. They left their homes suddenly, with no time for preparation. Belongings and important documents were left behind. In their desperation to save their own lives, many people left behind family members who could not safely travel to the airport in Kabul. After days of violence and chaos at the airport, the United States was able to evacuate 76,000 Afghan men, women and children, with the hope for safety, security and a better life in the United States.
Because the evacuation was so unexpected, our Afghan allies entered the U.S. with the immigration status of humanitarian parolee, a temporary status with a two year expiration date. That two-year mark is just a few months away. Unless our government acts, Afghans airlifted out of their country and welcomed to the United States will lose their legal presence and ability to work, and they will be subject to deportation. Many Afghans have filed petitions for asylum or submitted applications to be considered for Special Immigrant Visas (SIV), and Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) has assisted almost 250 people with this process. We still have 33 families on a waitlist for asylum applications as they are cumbersome, complicated, and time-consuming to complete.
Asylum applications are also traumatic for the applicants, as they have to provide written testimony and documentation of the threats and violence from the Taliban their family members have endured in Afghanistan since they were evacuated, and they must make the case that they would be faced with almost certain persecution and death should they be forced to return.
Our immigration system is so backlogged that after over a year of filing applications, we have received approval for only seven SIV applications and just one asylum claim.
There is a more just, humane and efficient solution — the Afghan Adjustment Act, which was introduced in the last Congress with Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri as one of the original co-sponsors. This act would provide a path to legal permanent residency for any Afghan evacuated by the United States in August 2021, with provisions mandating additional background checks and security screenings. Even with strong bipartisan support – including co-sponsorship by Senator Jerry Moran (KS), Representative Sharice Davids (KS), Senator Roy Blunt (MO) and Representative Emanuel Cleaver (MO) – politics got in the way of its passage. It has not yet been re-introduced in this legislative session. Afghans have been living in the United States for almost two years as our neighbors, colleagues, classmates and friends, but they can’t move forward with their lives amidst such existential uncertainty. How can you enroll in college, buy a house, make any plans for your future when your fundamental safety is at risk?
We have a moral obligation to support those who risked their lives to protect U.S. troops and the people of Afghanistan from tyranny. We must urge our elected officials to reintroduce the Afghan Adjustment Act and provide a path to permanent residence in the United States for our Afghan allies. Our allies have been wandering in the desert of uncertainty, fear and isolation for two years. Together, we can continue the hard but life-giving work of tikkun olam and do our part to repair the world for our Afghan neighbors.
Hilary Cohen Singer is the executive director of Jewish Vocational Service, a local organization that works to empower people to address challenges to their self-sufficiency. More information is available at jvskc.org.
