The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns signed the following letter to Congress urging robust support for vulnerable Afghans needing to be resettled in the United States.
September 17, 2021
Dear Members of Congress,
As 178 national, state, and local organizations, many of which have been engaged in supporting a full
evacuation of vulnerable Afghans and ongoing protection and support for those left behind, we ask for
your support to help communities in the United States be fully ready to welcome Afghan refugees and
help them integrate and thrive.
With approximately 48,000 Afghan evacuees who were in imminent danger arrived in the United States from August 17th-September 1st, and tens of thousands more arrivals expected in the coming weeks, it is critical that Congress take immediate action to ensure Afghan evacuees receive resettlement and integration services and have the chance to apply for legal permanent residence -- and to ensure that our communities have the resources they need to provide these services. Most of our new Afghan neighbors are entering the United States with humanitarian parole, which is temporary immigration relief and does not make them automatically eligible for refugee resettlement services.
We call on all Members of Congress to support the following:
1. Authorization for Afghans Arriving on Humanitarian Parole to Receive Refugee Resettlement
Services
We urgently seek congressional authorization to ensure all Afghan parolees have access to the same
resettlement services as refugees who are resettled through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program
(USRAP). Resettlement services include refugee medical assistance, English-language classes, housing assistance, job training, and helping children enroll in school.
2. Appropriate Supplemental Funding to Serve Afghan Arrivals
We are facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, and we have an opportunity to ensure that there are robust pathways to protection to help displaced Afghans. As we welcome Afghans who have been forced from their homes because of affiliation with the U.S. mission and are in life-threatening danger to safety in the United States, it is critical that the federal agencies who serve refugees and SIVs, and the communities that welcome them, have the resources they need. Congress should provide a
supplementary:
• $9.68 billion for the Refugee and Entrant Assistance (REA) account is needed to fund the
Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which helps states and local communities welcome and
support refugees on their path to self-sufficiency. The anomaly request asked for $1,687,866,000
for Afghan arrivals, as well as a prorated amount based on an annualized rate of spending of
$7.99 billion for ORR’s existing populations of concern, such as refugees, unaccompanied children, trafficking survivors, torture survivors, asylees, and others.
• $2.2 billion for humanitarian assistance is needed, including:
- For the domestic reception and placement (R&P) program, administered by the Bureau of
- Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) within the Department of State.
- For overseas assistance through the Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA).
- Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance (ERMA), and/or International Disaster
- Assistance (IDA) accounts, including authorities that allow funds to be transferred between or merged with accounts to provide humanitarian assistance as expeditiously as possible. This level is in line with the President’s anomaly request.
• $535 million for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) within the Department of
Homeland Security to adjudicate the thousands of various immigration services needed both in
the U.S. (such as employment authorization, asylum, and adjustment of status applications) and
abroad (such as refugee applications), while addressing the current backlog, financial solvency,
fee waivers for humanitarian parole applications for Afghan nationals, and commitment to
improving customer service. This level is in line with the President’s anomaly request.
• $21.5 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for medical support and
care for Afghan arrivals and refugees. This level is in line with the President’s anomaly request.
• $10 million for the Department of Justice Recognition & Accreditation and Legal
Orientation Program (LOP) is needed to ensure that Afghan arrivals understand their legal
rights and obligations with a basic understanding of our immigration system.
3. Pass an Afghan Adjustment Act
We call on Congress to pass legislation that would allow Afghan parolees who are being evacuated from Afghanistan to have an opportunity to seek legal permanent residence. These parolees are fleeing violence and persecution and deserve an opportunity to rebuild their lives in safety -- and without the fear and limitations associated with uncertain immigration status. This is also critical because many Afghans were advised to destroy documents associating them to the U.S. mission and other information that would otherwise be used to pursue an asylum claim.
We welcome vulnerable Afghans arriving in our communities and ask for your support to help them fully integrate and thrive as they adjust to their new homes. At no other time has our moral responsibility to uphold these principles been greater.
Please contact Meredith Owen at Church World Service at mowen@cwsglobal.org with any questions.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
Adelante Mujeres
Afghan Diaspora Hub
AfghanEvac
Afghans For a Better Tomorroq
African American Ministers In Action
African Family Holistic Health Organization
Aldea - The People's Justice Center
Aliro
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Immigration Lawyers Association
American Muslim Empowerment Network (AMEN)
Amnesty International USA
Anti-Defamation League
APANO
Arizona Immigrant and Refugee Services
Asian American Federation of Florida South Region
Asian Caribbean Exchange
Asian Culture and Education Society USA
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence
Association of Wartime Allies
Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)
Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture
Bethany Christian Services
Boat People SOS
Canopy NWA
Catholic Charities of Southern New Mexico
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Center for Victims of Torture
Center of Excellence for Immigrant Child Health & Wellbeing, UCSF Benioff Children's
Hospitals
Central Washington Justice For Our Neighbors
Centro de Servicios Para Campesinos
Christian Reformed Church Office of Social Justice
Church of the Brethren, Office of Peacebuilding and Policy
Church World Service
Common Defense
Community Visions
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Cornell IRAP
Disciples Refugee and Immigration Ministries
Doctors for Camp Closure
Doctors for Camp Closure-OR Chapter
ECC Diocese of the Pacific Northwest
ECDC - African Community Center
ECDC African Community Center - Denver
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO)
Edmonds Lutheran Church
Episcopal Migration Ministries
Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evocati
First Focus Campaign for Children
Florida Asian Services
Florida Asian Women Alliance
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Global Friends of Afghanistan
GULC IRAP
Haitian Bridge Alliance
Hearts & Homes for Refugees
HIAS
Hispanic Federation
Human Rights First
Immigrant ARC
Immigrant Defenders Law Center
Immigrant Defense Oregon
Immigrant Refugee Community Organization
Innovation Law Lab
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
International Institute of St. Louis
International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
International Rescue Committee
IRAP Northwestern
IRIS - Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
Just Neighbors Ministry
Justice Action Center
Justice For Our Neighbors - North Central Texas
Justice for Our Neighbors El Paso
Justice for Our Neighbors Michigan
Keeping Our Promise, Inc.
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Michigan Immigrant Rights Center
Mina's List
Mississippi Center for Justice
Multicultural Refugee Coalition
Nashville International Center for Empowerment
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Immigration Forum
National Justice for Our Neighbors
National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights
NayceQuest LLC
New American Economy
New Jersey Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
New Portlanders Policy Commission
New York Immigration Coalition
New York Justice for Our Neighbors, Inc.
Niskanen Center
North Carolina African Services Coalition, Inc.
North Carolina Justice Center
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
NYU International Refugee Assistance Project
Oasis Legal Services
OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates
OCA Asian Pacific Advocates - Greater Seattle
OCA Asian Pacific American Advocates of Pittsburgh
OCA Greater Chicago
OCA Greater Cleveland - Asian Pacific American Advocates
OCA Sacramento
OCA South Florida Chapter
OCA-DFW
OCA-GPC
OCA-Greater Houston
OCA-Greater Phoenix Chapter
OCA-Silicon Valley
OneAmerica
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
Oxfam America
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Plymouth Church UCC - Immigration Ministry Team
Portland Raging Grannies
Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness
Presbyterian Church USA
Queer Crescent
Rainier Open Catholics
Refugee Action Network of Illinois
Refugee Advocacy Lab
Refugee Congress
Refugee Council USA
Refugee Empowerment Center
Refugee Services of Texas
RefugeeOne
Refugees International
Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment
Rural Organizing Project
Seattle Immigrant Rights Action Group
Sikh Coalition
SOAR Refugee Resettlement
Soldiers' Angels
South Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
SYL Foundation
Syrian Community Network
Tahirih Justice Center
Talent Beyond Boundaries
Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition
The Advocates for Human Rights
The Episcopal Church
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
The Ramjaane Joshua Foundation
The Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago, Inc.
TravelLifeAdventures
Tri-Cities Immigrant Coalition
Truman National Security Project
UAW 4121
UCSF Health and Human Rights Initiative
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Refugee & Immigrant Services & Education
Upwardly Global
USC Law International Human Rights Clinic
Veterans for American Ideals
Vets4Afghans
Virginia Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
Voice for Refuge Action Fund
Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
We Are All America
Welcoming America
Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration
Win Without War
WIN-NoVA
With Honor Action
Witness at the Border
Women's Refugee Commission
World Education Services
World Relief - North Texas
World Relief
