The Biden administration announced that evacuated Afghans would be able to enter the United States via humanitarian pardon in the conflict that ensued on August 15, 2021, following the US handover from Afghanistan. They may be given temporary access to American ground, but not a road to permanent residency.
In the weeks that followed, around 70, 000 Afghans seeking to escape the returning Taliban authorities were evacuated. Almost half had worked with the US government or American nonprofit institutions, some were family members. Some had no previous associations.
The majority of those who were resettled to several states were leading destinations, with Texas, Virginia, and California serving as the top destinations after passing safety and wellbeing screenings in third countries and on local military bases.
Humanitarian pardon was only ever intended as a temporary fix to an urgent problem, it is only true for two years, after which an individual’s position must be adjusted.
In response, lawmakers in Congress proposed the Afghan Adjustment Act in August 2022 with the help of common – and republican – help. This will allow Afghans to shift from temporary to everlasting residency in the US after additional screening.
But two years later, the act also has no passed. We as experts on human rights, movement, and migrants see the suffering of tens of thousands of Afghans in the United Arab Emirates as a consequence of the country’s political system, which causes costs to struggle to pass. Additionally, the upcoming November elections will add a new layer of uncertainty to those who are currently limbo.
Stalling in Congress
The Afghan Adjustment Act was introduced on the occasion of Kabul’s first anniversary. The bill, which was introduced by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, proposed a new Afghan Special Immigrant Visa for Afghans who had evacuated and provided a new way for some Afghans to transition from temporary to permanent status.
By 2021, approximately 77, 000 Afghans had already been admitted to the United States through the Special Immigrant Visa program, which was established in 2006. At least 18, 000 at-risk applicants and 53, 000 eligible family members had still not received their visas when Kabul fell, but this was due to bureaucratic inconsistencies and backlogs with the program.
Afghans who arrived in the US in or after 2021 would be able to apply for permanent residency under Klobuchar’s bill either through the expanded Special Immigrant Visa program or by making a direct adjustment to their status within two years of arrival.
The proposed legislation has since been inserted into multiple spending bills, including, most recently, the National Security Supplemental in February 2024. However, the measure fell short because Republicans were against the bill as a whole, which totaled a US$ 95 billion foreign aid package to assist Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
The majority of bills fail to pass into law in America, which is partially due to this general rule, and the current Congress has a historically low passing rate.
Yet the act’s failure comes despite bipartisan and wide-ranging popular support to assist Afghans – including among members of the military, veterans, religious groups and refugee advocates. The majority of Americans polled favor bringing in Afghans who passed security checks shortly after Kabul’s fall. Even two years later, 80 % of Americans believed that the US should assist Afghans who had provided resettlement assistance to American forces in Afghanistan.
There is also a strong case for providing quick pathways to permanent residency. The US has previously passed adjustment acts for Cubans, Cambodians, Vietnamese and Iraqis, among others, allowing them to adjust their status from temporary to permanent residents.
Republicans in opposition to Klobuchar’s bill raised concerns that the vetting processes were insufficient, suggesting that some Afghans might have connections to terrorist organizations. The bill has failed to pass, according to advocates for the Afghan evacuees, simply because there is n’t enough lobbying power to support it.
And while bipartisan support exists for allowing Afghans to enter the US or obtain long-term residency, the issue has swayed Republican opponents who oppose President Joe Biden’s use of humanitarian parole.
In July 2023, Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican, introduced a competing bill, the Ensuring American Security and Protecting Afghan Allies Act. This would require evacuees to adhere to the strict criteria for obtaining refugee status in addition to granting Afghans a direct pathway to permanent residency after further screening. And for many Afghan evacuees, this may be challenging because they must demonstrate individual fear of persecution from the Taliban, which is a high standard for those who have now been abroad for three years.
Even with its more narrow requirements, Cotton’s bill failed to pass.
Left in limbo
Afghans without permanent legal status in the United States could apply for temporary protected status in May 2022, which would allow those with expired or about to expire permits to remain in the country for an additional 18 months.
Afghans were deported indefinitely until September 2023, but the temporary protected status was extended for an additional 18 months, failing to offer a long-term solution.
Instead, most Afghans have turned to an overburdened asylum system, with a backlog of 2.6 million asylum applications as of mid-2024. Individuals must already be in the US to apply for asylum, not refugees who have been resettled there from abroad.
In an effort to speed up the asylum process, US officials streamlined the application process and exempted Afghans from paying fees in August 2021.
Only 136 and 191 Afghans were granted asylum in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, respectively, out of tens of thousands of pending applications, even when Congress directed US Citizenship and Immigration Services to issue a final asylum decision on Afghan cases within 150 days.
Afghans who have been on humanitarian parole in the United States can still apply for a Special Immigrant Visa, but they must do so without a delay.
The procedure was revised in July 2022 by combining two steps into a single one, but it still remains challenging for Afghan applicants. Afghans attempting to rebuild their lives have structural barriers and psychological fears due to long processing times and uncertainty about their future in the US. These issues are made worse by trauma from years of conflict in Afghanistan and by people who are forced to leave numerous family members behind.
How the act might be impacted by the election
What will happen to Afghans who are still in the US as the third anniversary of the fall of Kabul approaches? The next administration’s ability to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act is uncertain.
Vice President Kamala Harris ‘ advisers have stated that the Democratic nominee for president is” committed to Afghan relocation efforts and looking for new ways to assist” In this way, a Harris administration could anticipate a more successful passage of the act, underscoring its moral and strategic significance.
Donald Trump has indicated that, if elected, his administration would prioritize stricter immigration policies. He slowed down the entry of Afghan allies by adding even more security checks to the Special Immigrant Visa process in 2017. Despite some Republican support, this could lessen the chance that the Afghan Adjustment Act will still be a legislative priority.
The composition of Congress will be just as crucial. The act will have a better chance of passing if Democrats win control of both the House and Senate.
In any case, we contend that the Afghan Adjustment Act should not be seen as merely an immigration bill. Regardless of which administration is elected in November, we think that failing to support Afghan allies and ensure Afghans ‘ safety sends a bad message to potential partners. Without these assurances, the willingness of people and organizations to aid the US abroad could decline, leaving American forces without essential support for upcoming operations.
Kelsey Norman is a fellow for the Middle East in the Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, and Ana Martín Gil is research manager at the Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East, Baker Institute, Rice University.
This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.