“We remain gravely concerned that the United States is abandoning tens of thousands of Afghans to die by cutting off their last available pathway to refuge. The United States has an obligation to keep pathways open for Afghans who have no alternative ways to seek asylum and reunite with family in the United States,” — Juliette Chisam-Majid, Project ANAR.
ANAR is an Afghan-led immigration organization that has connected thousands of Afghans with legal volunteers in order to apply for Humanitarian Parole to the United States.
Two hundred twenty-five organizations have signed a letter raising concerns about the fate of thousands of Afghans who remain trapped in Afghanistan, and have applied for humanitarian protections with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The organizations fear mass denials of applications, leaving tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans at risk under deadly Taliban rule. The letter, led by Project ANAR (Afghan Network for Advocacy and Resources), is the second appeal organized by the group to the Biden Administration and members of Congress, and is part of a broader grassroots effort to organize protection for Afghan asylum seekers.
“As legal service providers, advocates, and members of the Afghan diaspora, we seek not only adjudication of Afghan Humanitarian Parole applications, but the favorable use of the wide discretion that USCIS has to grant parole. Instead, USCIS has laid out a plan that will close the door to tens of thousands of Afghans seeking safety in the United States,” the letter notes.
The letter notes USCIS standards that many believe are insurmountable, including:
1) Third party evidence naming the applicant and documenting threats or risks of serious harm, a burden of proof that is not normally part of the humanitarian process, and often impossible to fulfill given the realities on the ground in Afghanistan.
2) USCIS has arbitrarily heightened the threat standard required for these applications, in contradiction of their own prior Humanitarian Parole Trainings and Guidelines.
3) Heightened standards produce a potential for mass denials in the absence of alternative pathways. Afghans have turned to Humanitarian Parole because other pathways are inaccessible, backlogged, and insufficient for the urgent needs produced by the Taliban takeover of the country. Advocates have long urged special programs to address the inaccessibility of existing pathways, yet no such plans have been developed by the US government.
On November 5, 2021, USCIS updated its website with information about processing of Afghan Humanitarian Parole Applications, to state, among other things, that it will prioritize third-country applications and will inform Afghans in country found eligible of parole that they must travel outside of Afghanistan before they can be processed.
“Advocates are concerned by USCIS Humanitarian Parole denials that rely on insurmountable evidentiary standards, and pull the rug out from under tens of thousands of pending applications with no alternative pathways for relief. USCIS has adopted an exclusionary policy toward Afghans that contradicts its own guidance,” said Laila Ayub for Project ANAR.
A full explanation of these concerns, as well as seven clear recommendations on the issue, are detailed in the Project ANAR letter that you can read here.
“We remain gravely concerned that the United States is abandoning tens of thousands of Afghans to die by cutting off their last available pathway to refuge. The United States has an obligation to keep pathways open for Afghans who have no alternative ways to seek asylum and reunite with family in the United States,” said Juliette Chisam-Majid for Project ANAR.
Project ANAR is an Afghan-led immigration organization that has connected thousands of Afghans with legal volunteers in order to apply for Humanitarian Parole to the United States.
A full list of the 225 organizations that have signed the letter, including Maine’s Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP):
- 13 Lines LLC
- AAG
- ACCESS of WNY
- Afghan American Church
- Afghan-American Community Organization (AACO)
- Afghan Coalition
- Afghan Evacuation and Resettlement Lawyers (AERL)
- Afghan Legal Empowerment Portal
- Afghan Refugee Relief
- Afghan Refugee Relief and Aid of Michigan
- Afghan Scout Relief Fund
- Afghans For A Better Tomorrow
- AK Poku Law, PLLC
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Pro Bono Practice
- Al Otro Lado
- Aldea – The People’s Justice Center
- American Immigration Council
- American Immigration Lawyers Association New England
- American Muslim Empowerment Network (AMEN)
- Amnesty International USA
- Arizona Justice For Our Neighbors
- Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese
- ARTogether
- Asian Services in Action (ASIA)
- Association of Wartime Allies
- Azadi Alliance
- Berkeley Immigration Group
- Berkeley Law Afghanistan Project
- Building One Community
- Burma Refugee Families & Newcomers
- Cal Voices
- California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice
- Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (CAIR Coalition)
- Catholic Charities NY, Immigrant and Refugee Services
- Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.
- Catholic Multicultural Center
- Causa Justa :: Just Cause
- Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
- Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants
- Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative
- Central Washington Justice For Our Neighbors
- Centro Legal de la Raza
- Christian Reformed Church Office of Social Justice
- Church World Service
- Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition
- Columbia Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic
- Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, Inc.
- Community Asylum Seekers Project
- Community Legal Aid Society, Inc.
- Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto
- Community Legal Services, McGeorge Law School
- Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants
- Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible
- Corazon Healdsburg
- Cornell Law School Afghanistan Assistance Clinic
- Council on American-Islamic Relations – Sacramento Valley / Central California
- Council on American-Islamic Relations, Washington Chapter (CAIR-WA)
- Curran, Berger & Kludt LLP
- DaVita Inc.
- Development Now Initiatives
- Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, Inc.
- Disciples Immigration Legal Counsel
- Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries
- Doctors for Camp Closure
- Dolores Street Community Services
- East Bay Refugee and Immigrant Forum
- Equal Access Legal Services
- EVAC (Evacuating Vocal Afghan Citizens)
- Fayetteville Justice for Our Neighbors
- Fletcher Afghan Evacuation & Resettlement Working Group
- Freedom Now
- Fresh Start Refugee Assistance Center
- Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network (GAIN)
- Grace Church of Evergreen
- Hanan Refugees Relief Group
- Harvard Afghan Alliance
- Hearts & Homes for Refugees
- HIAS
- HIAS Pennsylvania
- Higuera Law
- Honor the Promise
- Hope Border Institute
- Human First Coalition
- Human Rights First
- Human Rights Initiative of North Texas
- Human Rights Watch
- Immigrant ARC
- Immigrant Defense Advocates
- Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
- Immigrant Legal Center
- Immigration Attorneys LLP
- Immigration Equality
- Immigration Hub
- Immigration Institute of the Bay Area
- Innovation Law Lab
- Institute for Women in Migration (IMUMI)
- International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
- International Institute of New England
- International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
- International Rescue Committee
- Japanese American Citizens League
- Jewish Family & Community Services – East Bay
- Just Neighbors Ministry
- Justice Action Center
- Justice for Our Neighbors El Paso
- Justice for Our Neighbors Michigan
- Kehilla Community Synagogue
- Khanbabai Immigration Law
- Kurdish Alliance of North America
- La Raza Community Resource Center
- Latin Advocacy Network (LATINAN)
- Law Foundation of Silicon Valley
- Law Office of Ban Al-Wardi
- Law Office of Helen Lawrence
- Law Office of J. Lance Conklin
- Law Office of Jennifer L. Hennessey
- Law Office of Parastoo G Zahedi Esquire
- Law Office of Patavee Vanadilok, P.C.
- Law Office of Renee C. Redman LLC
- Law Office of Spojmie Nasiri, PC
- Leadership Conference of Women Religious
- Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition
- Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
- Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition
- Mainers for Accountable Leadership Action
- MAPS-AMEN (American Muslim Empowerment Network)
- MH Global Immigration & Mobility Consulting
- Miami Valley Immigration Coalition
- Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC)
- Migrant Center for Human Rights
- National Immigrant Justice Center
- National Immigration Forum
- National Immigration Law Center
- National Iranian American Council
- National Justice for Our Neighbors
- National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
- New American Pathways
- New England Justice for Our Neighbors
- New York Conference UMC Board of Church and Society
- New York Immigration Coalition
- New York Legal Assistance Group
- Nilsen Immigration Law
- NorCal Resist
- North Bay Rapid Response Network: Solano, Napa and Sonoma Counties
- Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
- NuruZan, Inc.
- NYSBA International Section Afghan Task Force
- Oasis Legal Services
- Open Door Legal
- Open Immigration Legal Services
- Operation Freedom Birds
- Operation North Star
- Operation Recovery
- Operation Sacred Promise
- Oxfam America
- Pangea Legal Services
- Pars Equality Center
- Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA)
- Parwana’s People
- Pilgrim Congregational UCC
- Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
- Prime Counsel, PLLC
- Public Counsel
- Race Matters, First Congregational UCC
- Rainbow Beginnings
- Refugee & Immigrant Assistance Center
- Refugee & Immigrant Transitions
- Refugee Congress
- Refugee Council USA
- Refugee Empowerment Center
- Refugee Empowerment Program
- Refugee Solidarity Network
- Refugees International
- Reinaert LLC
- Rian Immigrant Center
- San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network
- San Joaquin College of Law – New American Legal Clinic
- SB County Immigrant Legal Defense Center
- Services, Immigrant Rights And Education Network (SIREN)
- Sikh Coalition
- Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team
- SLC Consulting, Inc.
- Society For The Advancement of Judaism
- Sound Central
- South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
- South Asian Bar Association Chicago
- Street Level Health Project
- Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice
- T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
- Tahirih Justice Center
- Talent Beyond Boundaries
- Tarjoman Relief
- Task Force Antal
- Team America Relief
- Team Hope/Enduring Hope Alliance
- Team Spirit
- The Afghan-American Foundation
- The Lamia Afghan Foundation
- Truman-Veritas Afghan Alliance
- US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
- U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
- UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic
- Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
- University of San Francisco Immigration & Deportation Defense Clinic
- UnLocal
- USC Law International Human Rights Clinic
- Ustun Law International, PLLC
- Van Der Hout LLP
- VECINA
- Veteran Esquire Legal Solutions, PLLC
- Veterans for American Ideals
- Victoria L. Block Law
- Viets For Afghans
- Welcoming Alliance for Refugee Ministry (WARM)
- Werner-Kohnstamm Family Giving Fund
- Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration
- Western New York Peace Center
- Win Without War
- Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center
- With Honor
- Women for Afghan Women Organization
- World Education Services
- World Relief
- WOW Explorations
- #AfghanEvac