December 2022

The Story of the Afghan Evacuees

For the Afghan evacuees seeking a legal pathway to remain in the United States, time is of the essence. Catholic Charities’ Immigration Legal Services is working hard to assist them in their journey to remain here in the United States. 

At the time of writing, there are more than 200 Afghan evacuees in the Archdiocese of Dubuque living in Cedar Rapids, who arrived last fall following the removal of US troops in Afghanistan and the fall of the Afghan government to the Taliban. The evacuees are men, women and children; some of them had worked alongside the US government in Afghanistan for 20 plus years. They came to the United States in their military uniforms, with no bags or clothes or comforts of home. Their families had no choice but to stay behind in Afghanistan.
In order to expedite their arrival, the US government granted them “humanitarian parole” a two-year status that will expire in the fall of 2023.  Over 94% of the 70,000 Afghan evacuees brought to the United States have been processed under the Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) humanitarian parole program.  Even with this parole status, there is no clear, built-in pathway to permanent residency (aka green card) and citizenship.  The parole status offers limited benefits compared to other more permanent legal status. 

A small percentage of Afghan parolees who could prove they worked for the US government, would be eligible for Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) status.  However, there is not yet a clear pathway for a majority of Afghans who are not eligible for SIV status.  Due to the time restrictions and the backlog of federal immigration processes, most Afghans are not guaranteed a pathway to permanent legal status.   Instead, they will need to apply for asylum.  In the past, when this designation has been used in dire cases such as following the Vietnam War, provisions were then made by the U.S. government to provide a pathway forward.

There are a few pieces of legislation currently in the works to help alleviate some of the backlog of this process, as well as attempts to help alleviate the strain on certain industries that are hurting for workers with legal status in our nation.

One pivotal piece is the Afghan Adjustment Act. This bi-partisan bill would provide a pathway to permanent status for Afghan evacuees, and those eligible and vetted could apply immediately for legal permanent resident (LPR) status. This proposed bill would also advance the efforts still going on to protect individuals left behind in Afghanistan by expanding the number of Afghan military personnel and their direct family members who would be eligible for the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) status.

In the meantime, the Afghan evacuees in Cedar Rapids are required to present themselves to the federal US asylum office in Omaha, Nebraska, to attend interviews in order to apply for asylum. Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services’ is helping with this process, as it often presents many barriers, not just for preparing for the actual interview, but also lodging and transportation logistics. The timeline is very tight as well for all of these interviews to take place – many of them are facing a status expiration of their humanitarian parole status in September or October of 2023. Once interviews take place, they are told to expect an average 5-6 month waiting period to hear back about approval or denial, which as of right now, they must be approved in order to remain here unless the US government grants an extension of their temporary status.

But even if they are approved for asylum, there is not a clear, short path to citizenship from there. After approval for asylum, they must wait a year until they are able to apply for legal permanent resident status (aka green card). And then once they have had their green card for 5 years, only then may they apply for US citizenship. The road there is long, slow, and expensive, and if there is any violation of their status, they may not be able to continue.

When they first arrived in Cedar Rapids, the Afghan evacuees were placed in temporary housing at a local hotel. From there, the Catherine McCauley Center in Cedar Rapids has a program called the Refugee and Immigrant Services Program that assists with refugee resettlement services. They have been assisting to place the evacuees in housing, as well as providing rental assistance, helping with health insurance, etc. However, come January 2023 the evacuees will no longer be eligible for this program, and will require additional financial assistance and resources from elsewhere, like Catholic Charities, who is providing assistance not only with immigration matters, but also financial assistance to help pay rent, utilities and other expenses, along with long-term case management to ensure individuals do not fall between the cracks. 

With their humanitarian parole status, the Afghans are able to lawfully work and be employed to help pay for their basic necessities, as well as send money back home in many cases to assist family members.  Many of these individuals are having to select jobs where they are able to work even with a language barrier, which is limiting, and often forces them to take positions that are outside of the job skillset that they would have utilized back home. However, after taxes, the cost of housing, food, transportation, etc., as well as sending money back home, there is very little left over.  This is one of the reasons that Catholic Charities’ Immigration Legal Services is such a vital program – without them, many of the evacuees would be unable to afford the necessary legal representation to advocate for their immigration and asylum cases.