Hundreds of Afghans denied humanitarian entry into US

2 years ago 281

Haseena Niazi, a 24-year-old from Afghanistan, poses extracurricular her home, Friday, Dec. 17, 2021, northbound of Boston. Niazi received a missive from the national authorities denying her fianc's humanitarian parole exertion earlier successful the month. Her fiance, who she asked not to beryllium named implicit concerns astir his safety, had received threats from Taliban members for moving connected women's wellness issues astatine a infirmary northbound of Kabul. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

BOSTON – Haseena Niazi had pinned her hopes of getting her fiancé retired of Afghanistan connected a rarely utilized migration provision.

The 24-year-old Massachusetts nonmigratory was astir definite his exertion for humanitarian parole would get approved by the U.S. government, considering the grounds helium provided connected the threats from the Taliban helium received portion moving connected women’s wellness issues astatine a infirmary adjacent Kabul.

But this month, the petition was summarily denied, leaving the mates reeling aft months of anxiety.

“He had everything they wanted,” said Niazi, a greenish paper holder primitively from Afghanistan. “It doesn’t marque immoderate consciousness wherefore they’d cull it. It’s similar a atrocious dream. I inactive can’t judge it.”

Federal migration officials person issued denial letters to hundreds of Afghans seeking impermanent introduction into the state for humanitarian reasons successful caller weeks, to the dismay of Afghans and their supporters. By doing so, migrant advocates say, the Biden medication has failed to grant its committedness to assistance Afghans who were near down aft the U.S. subject withdrew from the country successful August and the Taliban took control.

“It was a immense disappointment,” said Caitlin Rowe, a Texas lawyer who said she precocious received 5 denials, including 1 for an Afghan constabulary serviceman who helped bid U.S. troops and was beaten by the Taliban. “These are susceptible radical who genuinely thought determination was hope, and I don’t deliberation determination was.”

Since the U.S. withdrawal, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received much than 35,000 applications for humanitarian parole, of which it has denied astir 470 and conditionally approved much than 140, Victoria Palmer, an bureau spokesperson, said this week.

The little-known program, which doesn’t supply a way to lawful imperishable residence successful the country, typically receives less than 2,000 requests annually from each nationalities, of which USCIS approves an mean of astir 500, she said.

Palmer besides stressed humanitarian parole is mostly reserved for utmost emergencies and not intended to regenerate the exile admissions process, “which is the emblematic pathway for individuals extracurricular of the United States who person fled their state of root and are seeking protection.”

The U.S. government, meanwhile, continues to assistance susceptible Afghans, evacuating much than 900 American citizens and residents and different 2,200 Afghans since the subject withdrawal. The authorities section said it expects to assistance resettle arsenic galore arsenic 95,000 radical from Afghanistan this fiscal year, a process that includes rigorous inheritance checks and vaccinations.

Many of them, however, had been whisked retired of Afghanistan earlier the U.S. left. Now, USCIS is tasked with this caller question of humanitarian parole applications and has ramped up staffing to see them.

The bureau said successful a connection that requests are reviewed connected an idiosyncratic basis, with information fixed to contiguous relatives of Americans and Afghans airlifted out.

And portion USCIS stressed that parole shouldn’t regenerate exile processing, migrant advocates reason that isn’t a viable enactment for Afghans stuck successful their state owed to a disablement oregon hiding from the Taliban. Even those capable to get retired of Afghanistan, they say, whitethorn beryllium forced to hold years successful exile camps, which isn’t thing galore tin spend to do.

Mohammad, who asked that his past sanction not beryllium utilized retired of fearfulness for his family’s safety, said his elder brother, who utilized to enactment for planetary organizations, is among them. He has been successful hiding since the Taliban came looking for him pursuing the U.S. withdrawal, Mohammad said.

On a caller sojourn to the household home, Taliban members took his younger member alternatively and held him much than a week for ransom, helium said. Now, Mohammad, a erstwhile translator for U.S. troops successful Afghanistan who lives successful California with a peculiar migration status, is seeking parole for this brother, too. He hopes a conditional support missive tin get them a spot connected 1 of the U.S. evacuation flights inactive moving retired of the country.

“I tin supply him housing. I tin supply him everything," helium said. “Let them travel here.”

Immigrant advocates began filing humanitarian parole applications for Afghans successful August successful a last-ditch effort to get them connected U.S. evacuation flights retired of the state earlier the withdrawal.

In immoderate cases, it worked, and connection dispersed among migration attorneys that parole, portion typically utilized successful utmost emergencies, mightiness beryllium a mode out, said Kyra Lilien, manager of migration ineligible services astatine Jewish Family & Community Services successful California’s East Bay.

Soon, attorneys began filing thousands of parole applications for Afghans.

When the U.S. migration bureau created a website specifically to code these applications, Lilien said she thought it was a motion of hope. By November, however, the bureau had posted a database of constrictive criteria for Afghan applicants and held a webinar telling attorneys that parole is typically granted lone if there’s grounds idiosyncratic faces “imminent terrible harm."

A fewer weeks later, the denial letters began arriving. Lilien has received much than a twelve but nary approvals.

“Once the U.S. packed up and left, anyone who was near down has lone 1 choice, and that is to prosecute this archaic exile channel,” she said. “It is conscionable truthful angering that it took USCIS truthful agelong to beryllium wide astir that.”

Wogai Mohmand, an lawyer who helps pb the Afghan-focused Project ANAR, said that the radical has filed thousands of applications and that since the U.S. unit withdrawal, has seen lone denials.

The despair has led immoderate migration attorneys to springiness up connected filing parole applications altogether. In Massachusetts, the International Institute of New England is holding disconnected filing caller applications until it hears connected those that are pending aft receiving a flurry of denials.

Chiara St. Pierre, an lawyer for the exile resettlement agency, said she feels clients similar Niazi are facing an “unwinnable” battle.

For Niazi’s fiancé, they had provided copies of written threats sent to the infirmary wherever helium works arsenic a aesculapian technician and threatening substance messages helium said came from Taliban members, she said. It wasn’t enough.

A redacted transcript of the denial missive provided by St. Pierre lists the USCIS criteria released successful November but doesn’t specify wherefore the bureau rejected the application, which had been filed successful August.

For now, Niazi says her fiancé is surviving and moving acold from Kabul arsenic they measurement their options. They could perchance hold until Niazi becomes an American national truthful she tin effort to bring him present connected a fiancé visa, but that would instrumentality years.

“He can’t hold that long. It’s a occurrence each time that he’s alive,” Niazi said. “I’m feeling similar each doorway is closing successful connected him.”

___

Taxin reported from Orange County, California.

Read Entire Article