So many of us were moved to compassion and action when we watched the US withdrawal from Afghanistan happen in August 2021. Our inboxes were flooded with women asking how they could help, and stepping up to advocate and welcome new neighbors. In the year since the withdrawal, over 70,000 Afghans have been evacuated to the United States.
While our new neighbors faced a very credible fear of persecution from the Taliban, they didn’t travel to the US via the traditional refugee resettlement program. Instead, they were given a temporary protection called humanitarian parole that allowed them to legally enter the country, but does not allow any permanent immigration status. In June 2023, the Department of Homeland Security announced a re-parole program that will grant an additional two years of protection, but this is still a short-term solution.
It is essential that Congress passes a Bill like the Afghan Adjustment Act that ensures Afghan evacuees can receive permanent status. Our new neighbors, many of whom served alongside our own US military, belong in this country and deserve a permanent status that affirms that.
As Christians, we desire for our Afghan neighbors to know that they are welcome here, that they belong, and the United States is now their home, just as it is ours.
Join us in raising our voices to our elected officials!
Let’s have the conversation you’ve always wanted to have about immigration.