Over 70K Afghan Allies in U.S. Are at Risk of Deportation

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Now, in the year and a half since Americas ignominious Afghan withdrawal, the Taliban have systematically scrubbed away two decades of rights for women and girls. Now, refugees who managed to escape to America face the real prospect they may be shipped back to live under the thumb of the Taliban. The Afghan Adjustment Act, a bill to extend their stay in the U.S. is now stalled in Congress. And if it fails, almost 80,000 Afghan evacuees risked their freedom and possibly their lives. Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, a refugee herself, runs the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and she joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss their fate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARI SREENIVASAN, CORRESPONDENT: Christiane, thanks. Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, thanks so much for joining us. This conversation is happening at a time when there are more than 77,000 Afghan evacuees living in the United States right now. And their status is in limbo. Why? Sort of who are they and what’s at stake?

KRISH VIGNARAJAH, PRESIDENT AND CEO, LUTHERAN IMMIGRATION & REFUGEE SERVICE: Yes. The situation is becoming more and more urgent. These are the evacuees who worked alongside the U.S. military, the U.S. embassy, they were advocates for gender rights, freedom of press, other American and Western values. And quite frankly, it’s frustrating that 18 months after the withdrawal, there are still tens of thousands of Afghan allies caught up in a completely unnecessary legal limbo. Essentially, what it means is that they don’t have a permanent pathway to legal status. So, they don’t know if they can stay in the U.S. or whether they’ll be returned to Afghanistan to face Taliban retribution.

SREENIVASAN: So, your organization, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services has resettled about 14,000 of these folks. Tell me a little bit about what that transition has been like since the American withdrawal, which was at best traumatic.

VIGNARAJAH: So, we’ve had a chance to meet some incredible people, patriots who really risk their lives, risk their family’s lives to help us in America’s longest war. The last, you know, many months have been us helping find affordable housing for them, moving them into those houses, finding public schools to an older school aged children with. But just candidly, in terms of the toll of the uncertainty, it really has added immense stress and anxiety to an already difficult experience rebuilding. You know, a year and a half later, our case managers are still feeling (ph) the question from Afghans on a nearly daily basis, when will I know if I can stay in the U.S.?

SREENIVASAN: So, that question about staying, I mean, it might seem like a small semantic difference. A lot of Americans watching this are going to say, just they’re kind of shorthanded as refugees. But that word refugee versus people on humanitarian parole is very different. Explain the distinction for us.

VIGNARAJAH: Yes. So, a refugee is essentially someone who traveled to a third country. They apply to the U.N. or the U.S. government and were able to resettle in the U.S. But when they arrive in the U.S., essentially, their legal process has ended. Meaning, they’ve been admitted to the U.S. They know that they will stay here for the rest of their lives. Humanitarian parole is a temporary status. So, for these individuals, depending on what the time limit that was allowed it means that they were able to stay here for a year or two. And now, they have to adjust the status. And so, that’s why we’ve been advocating for the Afghan Adjustment Act because it would allow them to change their status to a more permanent one. Congress is done this for every modern wartime evacuation — evacuee population before. And so, it would be unprecedented for us to do this — to not do this for Afghan allies.

SREENIVASAN: So, Senator Klobuchar also has Republican co-sponsors to this Adjustment Act. What’s — why is it stalled right now?

VIGNARAJAH: It’s a great question. So, in the previous Congress, we met some initial resistance by a few key Republican senators. Some have raised concerns about insufficient vetting. And the bill sponsors and supporters have worked in good faith to address them. That’s why the Afghan Adjustment Act actually includes more screening on top of the rigorous process they already underwent. Because I think it’s important to bear in mind, they were vetted during the evacuation, and throughout the following months they spent on U.S. military bases. But I think it’s just as important to think about not just who opposes this bill but who supports this. There have — has been such enthusiasm from veterans’ organizations, refugee advocates, faith communities, civil society groups. You know, in fact, recent polling shows that 76 percent of Americans want to do right by our Afghan allies and pass this bill.

SREENIVASAN: You know, for those who might have security concerns, what are the kind of additional steps that have now been taken to sway the concerns of those Republican members of Congress who might have these? And, you know, if you can describe in kind of a thumbnail the layers of vetting that have already happened for this population.

VIGNARAJAH: Yes. It’s important to understand, when we’re talking about the evacuees, when we’re talking about refugees, they are the most vetted immigrants who are entering the U.S. because there has been a long-drawn- out process. You know, these are individuals who were going through biometric checks. You have our intelligence agencies, Department of Homeland Security, working closely together with the FBI, making sure that basically every database that we can access to check these individuals against those checks are being down. And, you know, these are also individuals who are in U.S. communities all across the country. You know, thankfully, we don’t have stories every day about some terrorist who’s infiltrated our community. These are individuals who have become our neighbors, they’re working in schools, they’re working in hospitals, you know, they’re working at the restaurant that we, you know, visit locally. So, these are people that we either knew because they worked alongside our military and embassies and some of the most sensitive operations abroad or they are individuals who you very quickly got to know during the vetting as they got on planes, when they were in — on military bases, in so-called lily pads, third countries, before they came to the U.S. And I think it’s important, Hari, to just stress that these are also individuals who have gone through and will go through additional vetting as a result of the Adjustment Act.

SREENIVASAN: So, is there a specific deadline or does it depend on when these evacuees land in the United States? I mean, what are they facing?

VIGNARAJAH: Yes. So, it depends on when they arrived. Essentially, once they were admitted through a port of entry, they had two years from that timeframe in order to change their status. So, we are coming up on, you know, that August deadline for many of them, perhaps September. But it is important to understand that, you know, no immigration process in the U.S. is quick. And so, that’s why the sense of urgency, the sense of desperation is already being felt. And that’s not just by our clients. You know, every day, we hear from landlords who wonder whether the tenants, you know, will be allowed to stay and obviously, they have been very helpful in terms of opening up housing to this community. Employers who are incredibly grateful to have hired a skilled and/or, you know, driven employees, and they don’t know what’s going to happen to these individuals. So, there is a lot of uncertainty across the board.

SREENIVASAN: And where are these evacuees located around the United States?

VIGNARAJAH: Yes. So, really, they are in communities all across the country. But in particular, you see a significant population in places like Northern Virginia, Texas. For many, they might have had family here before or they knew that there was a significant Afghan population in a certain community and gravitated towards that area. But it is been fascinating that whether we’re talking about North Dakota or Oklahoma there have been welcoming communities that have been incredibly enthusiastic and generous in helping Afghan families finding a new home there.

SREENIVASAN: There are also been different veterans’ groups advocating on behalf of these individuals. I mean, in addition to those veterans’ groups, I’m sure there are people lobbying in Congress to try to get this piece of legislation moving. I mean, what have you heard from legislators that you’ve heard from?

VIGNARAJAH: Yes. I mean, what you’re describing is the broad support that has been a big reason why we’ve seen such bipartisanship in terms of the bill’s sponsor — sponsors. In the last Congress, we were able to bring on 10 Senate sponsors with five from each party. So, we’re encouraged that the bill enjoys such bipartisan support. You know, the veterans’ groups that have really fought for this every day have been valuable advocates because they’ve talked about their experiences of how an Afghan interpreter risk their life and saved theirs. Soi, we are still hopeful that in this Congress, that we’ll be able to get the Afghan Adjustment Act passed.

SREENIVASAN: You know, I don’t get want to pit one community against each another, but the Biden administration has thought about the humanitarian parole status for say Ukrainians who came through Mexico. Why do you think that this population of the Afghans has not gotten that type of support?

VIGNARAJAH: It’s a great question. And I do think it is problematic when you see different policies that are passed for different nationalities. You know, we made a promise during our presence in Afghanistan that we would protect these families, these individuals, and that wasn’t a temporary promise. And so, I think it is a commitment that the U.S. needs to fulfill. But that’s true across the board. So, whether we’re talking about Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s invasion or those who worked alongside our U.S. military and U.S. embassy and others, I do think that it’s a promise that we need to fulfill and it’s — the U.S. showing its global humanitarian leadership.

SREENIVASAN: If the Adjustment Act does not pas and August comes around, what are these Afghan evacuees face?

VIGNARAJAH: So, I think it depends a bit on who’s in power. I think we are hopeful and fairly confident that if we are still talking about the Biden administration, you know, for the next couple of years, we don’t expect any deportation orders that there would be an extension of their temporary status, whether that’s what we call re-parole or they are granted temporary protective status in the U.S. So, there are a couple of pathways to just extend the temporary status, but it doesn’t change the uncertainty and the stress of these families are facing unless it is something like a legal long-term pathway. Of course, if it’s a changing administration, then I think it is concerning what their future holds. I think it’s important to understand during the Trump administration, for example, you had advisors like Stephen Miller who threw wrenches in the gears in order to lessen the number of special immigrant visas that were granted. And so, when President Biden came into power, he actually had a massive backlog of these interpreters of, you know, military aides who were just waiting in the queue. By law, they should have been processed in nine months. And in fact, the average time period was a least — you know, was about three years. So, that’s what we’re worried about is what happens if you have a change in administration, there’s no Afghan Adjustment Act passed and these families are facing the real prospect of being returned to Afghanistan.

SREENIVASAN: So, tell me a little bit about the concerns that you are hearing from the families here because the Afghanistan that they left is not the one that they would return to.

VIGNARAJAH: Yes, that’s right. And I think that’s why we hear from our clients such grave concerns because from their perspective, they fear that if they are returned it could be a death sentence. They know that not just because of their service now but because they fled the country, they have a target on their back. They fear retribution against their family. For all of our clients, I hear about how family that they’ve left behind have been contacted by the Taliban or, you know, in different situations have had to really fear for their lives, relocate. And so, it is an incredibly daunting prospect of their return.

SREENIVASAN: What about the status of women’s and girls and how that’s changed. I mean, half the population that’s here got to be concern about that if they have to go back?

VIGNARAJAH: That’s exactly right. I mean, I think, you know, I’ve met some incredible women who have had amazing careers in Afghanistan. You know, we actually were able to give a grant to an entrepreneur who just — you know, was amazing in Afghanistan. She has such drive that she’s brought here to the U.S. I’m sure she’ll be a successful entrepreneur. But, you know, when I led Let Girls Learn for First Lady Michelle Obama, we knew what the Taliban could do. We knew how these delays and returning girls to school can end up being years, if not decades. And what that means is a lost generation of girls who don’t have a chance to get an education, who don’t have a chance to realize their potential. And so, the idea of families of girls, of women who have tasted the freedom that America represents, to be returned to Afghanistan it’s just a dismal prospect and we can’t let it happen.

SREENIVASAN: What are the conditions on the ground that they’re describing now that they’re concerned about?

VIGNARAJAH: They fear for their families lives because the Taliban are obviously ruling without any constraint. They worry about the economic conditions because of the essentially complete collapse of the economy. And obviously, you know, there is no real prospect they feel for additional family members coming to the U.S. That concerns us because government officials in the administration were clear that even without the military presence, our mission wasn’t complete until we protected all the allies who worked alongside of us in Afghanistan. And I think that we need to fulfill that promise. It may be hard without a counselor presence, it may be hard without U.S., you know, boots on the ground but that doesn’t mean that we can’t and shouldn’t fulfill our pledge.

SREENIVASAN: I also want to know whether this strikes a personal chord for you. I mean, you and your family left Sri Lanka during a civil war and made your homes here.

VIGNARAJAH: It does. I know that when I first met some of the evacuees, I met quite a number of parents who I saw in them my own parents. You know, I was only nine months old when parents came here to the U.S. And I know that it took a lot for them to move halfway across the globe with two very young kids in their arms, no jobs and just $200 to their pockets. And, you know, as a parent myself to a five-year-old with a baby on the way, due in less than a month, I understand why these parents made the decisions that they did because, of course, any American parent can understand the idea of wanting a safe and secure life for your children. And so, I think, you know, what has been amazing in terms of working with the Afghans is, you know, we set up a Northern Virginia office, a temporary location. We hired two dozen staff. All of whom were Afghan, many of whom were recently arrived. And these are individuals who as they were resettling their families said, I want to help the next plane that’s coming. And I think that that just reflects the American spirit, the human spirit. And I guess the other piece of it is just in the generosity of Americans. We had tens of thousands of volunteers sign up in a matter of days and weeks to help these communities. And to me, that reminds me of just the welcoming community that my family, thankfully, experienced here that gave us a new home

SREENIVASAN: Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, thanks much for joining us.

VIGNARAJAH: Thanks for having me, Hari.