The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.
America’s immigration system is a mess. This is shown on a large scale by the unrelenting flood of immigrants at our southern border. On a smaller scale, specific groups, such as “Dreamers,” face an uncertain future in America.
We can now add many of our Afghan allies to this unfortunate list.
In the chaotic U.S. exit from Afghanistan, about 80,000 people from Afghanistan were evacuated and brought to the U.S. Thousands more who had worked with the U.S. remain in Afghanistan, where they remain in danger.
Many Afghan people in the U.S. are in a form of immigration limbo. Some have applied for special immigrant visas, a status for people who helped the U.S. and its interests. There is a big backlog of these applications. Most of the other evacuees were brought here under a process known as humanitarian parole, which offers only temporary protection from deportation and no path to permanent resident status. This uncertainty can make it hard for them to work and build a life in the U.S.
Rather than a patchwork of immigration statuses, there is a push for a more uniform system that would grant these Afghans permanent residency status and allow them to work and live in the U.S. without fear of an uncertain future.
The Afghan Adjustment Act, while it may need tweaks, should be a priority for lawmakers when they return for the lame duck session of Congress.
Military veterans, some of whom served in Afghanistan, make a compelling case for passage of the act, which would bring certainty to those Afghans in America while also creating a commission to search for better ways to help those who remain in Afghanistan.
In a recent meeting with the Bangor Daily News editorial board, several former military members stressed that passing the Afghan Adjustment Act is a matter of national security. If the U.S. does not protect its Afghan allies, it will be hard for the U.S. to find partners in the future, said Brian deLutio, a retired Navy lieutenant commander who lives in Scarborough. “Current and future partners are watching us,” he said.
The U.S. has passed similar legislation in the past to help allies who were in danger relocate to the U.S., such as the act for some who fled Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia decades ago.
John Friberg, who served in the Army Special Forces and as a Defense Department contractor, spent several years in Afghanistan. He has worked with Team America Relief to bring Afghan evacuees to the United States, including several to Maine. He spoke with anguish about the people, including an interpreter he had worked with, who were unable to leave Afghanistan before the government fell, people who are in danger of being killed by the Taliban or starving because of the Taliban’s mismanagement of the country.
“Every day that passes without the Afghan Adjustment Act being law, our allies here in Maine are in limbo, uncertain what will happen to them,” Friberg said in a press release. “In Afghanistan, those who stood and fought beside us are hunted down, beaten, imprisoned, or killed.”
The act is currently held up, in part, because of security concerns raised by some senators. Those who were evacuated from Afghanistan have been vetted numerous times on their way to and in the United States. If more vetting is a concern, the Adjustment Act provides that for a group of people who are already in the country.
As Maine veterans told us, time is running out for many who remain in hiding because of their long ties to the U.S. And, providing certainty to those Afghans who are already here, so they can build careers and lives in America makes humanitarian and economic sense.
That’s why Congress should find agreement on the Afghan Adjustment Act, and do so without delay.
