Statement: Jesuit Refugee Service/USA Welcomes Afghan Re-Parole Process

08 May 2023

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Jesuit Refugee Service/USA welcomes a recently announced plan by the Department of Homeland Security to establish a process to re-parole eligible Afghans who arrived in the US under humanitarian parole through Operation Allies Welcome. This process will provide much-needed relief to thousands of Afghans living and working in the US but does not take the place of passing an Afghan Adjustment Act.

“Following the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, over 75,000 US-affiliated and at-risk Afghans were welcomed into the United States via humanitarian parole, yet this is not a pathway to permanent legal status,” said Joan Rosenhauer, Executive Director of JRS/USA. “Afghans who continue to live in the US under humanitarian parole will still find themselves under a cloud of legal uncertainty.”

Following the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, over 75,000 US-affiliated and at-risk Afghans were welcomed into the United States via humanitarian parole, yet this is not a pathway to permanent legal status.
Joan Rosenhauer, Executive Director of JRS/USA

Alternatively, an Afghan Adjustment Act would offer an important correction by allowing these Afghan refugees to apply for lawful permanent resident status, the same legal status they would have received had they been admitted as refugees.  

 

“JRS/USA urges Congress to reintroduce the Afghan Adjustment Act to ensure that Afghans evacuated to the US have the chance to become lawful permanent residents,” said Giulia McPherson, Director of Advocacy at JRS/USA. “Without an Afghan Adjustment Act, Afghan evacuees will have to find an existing immigration pathway in order to remain in lawful status once their parole expires. Passage of this legislation would avoid years of needless asylum processing and save precious government resources.”