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Afghan Adjustment Act: Now is the Time to Move Ahead
Posted on Aug 10 2022
August 10, 2022— On August 9, one day before the anniversary of the fall of Kabul, bi-partisan groups of Senators and Representatives introduced an Afghan Adjustment Act in the House and Senate. The bill would offer a path to legal residence and citizenship for tens of thousands of Afghans who fled their country, many because their close ties to the United States endangered them.
“Thanks to the efforts of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and her colleagues, this bi-partisan bill has the best chance yet to protect the Afghans who assisted the U.S. in Afghanistan,” said Veena Iyer, executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. “We as a nation owe them safety and a chance to rebuild their lives here. We owe loyalty to those who were loyal to us, to those whose work saved the lives of U.S. service men and women. This legislation is a necessary step in the right direction, and both Democrats and Republicans must support its speedy passage.”
While more than 76,000 Afghan evacuees landed in the United States, tens of thousands remain in temporary camps around the world. Other Afghans in danger because of their ties to the United States or because of their political opinions, remain inside Afghanistan, living in hiding and in fear for their lives and the lives of their families. Minnesota has welcomed 1,241 Afghan evacuees, according to the Minnesota Refugee Resettlement Programs Office.
Current immigration law offers only slow and incomplete paths to safety, with years-long backlogs of applications for asylum or refugee status. Even the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program for Afghans who were actually employed the U.S. military or government is painfully slow, unreliable, and inadequate. The Afghan Adjustment Act will offer a path to permanence, with solid vetting and review.