PLEASE HELP: CONTACT YOUR SENATORS TODAY TO ASK THAT THEY PASS THE AFGHAN ADJUSTMENT ACT

This article explains the Afghan Adjustment Act and gives links for contacting your senators. Ron and I are reaching out to our friends and family far and wide to request that you please contact your senators TODAY to ask them to support the Afghan Adjustment Act. This act is critical to allowing thousands of Afghan refugees to stay in the United States and not be deported next year, including our friends who we’ve helped resettle in our area. What needs to be asked is to include the Afghan Adjustment Act in the Omnibus Spending Bill that needs to be voted on before December 22nd. Thank you for your help, caring, and support! — Molly

 

In early August 2022, a bipartisan group of legislators in both the House and Senate introduced the Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA), which would provide a pathway to permanent legal status for Afghans resettled in the United States, expand eligibility for the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, and create an inter-agency task force to better facilitate the relocation of at-risk Afghans abroad. The Evacuate Our Allies Coalition thanks the following Members of Congress for leading the effort to introduce the AAA in both the House and the Senate: Representatives Blumenauer (D-OR), Meijer (R-MI), Nadler (D-NY), Kinzinger (R-IL), Lofgren (D-CA), Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Crow (D-CO), Upton (R-MI), and Peters (D-CA); and Senators Klobuchar (D-MN), Graham (R-SC), Coons (D-DE), Blunt (R-MO), Blumenthal (D-CT), and Murkowski (R-AK). 

What is the Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA)?

The Afghan Adjustment Act would:

• Provide a pathway to permanent legal status for Afghan parolees and Afghans who were lawfully present in the United States prior to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

• Establish an Interagency Task Force responsible for creating and implementing a strategy to continue the relocation and resettlement of eligible Afghan partners from Afghanistan over the next ten years, and providing much-needed intra-governmental coordination.

• Require the U.S. Department of State to respond to congressional inquiries related to SIV applications or U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) referrals.

• Expand SIV eligibility for Afghans who worked and served alongside U.S. forces, including members of the Afghan National Army Special Operations Command, the Afghan Air Force, the Female Tactical Teams of Afghanistan, and the Special Mission Wing of Afghanistan, as well as certain Afghan family members of U.S. service people and veterans.
   
   

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What’s in the Afghan Adjustment Act?

The language in the bill is the same in the House and the Senate.

Representative Blumenauer has provided a section-by-section of the AAA to help explain what each section of the bill would do.

Read about the public support for the Afghan Adjustment in this September 2022 report by More in Common.

Evacuate Our Allies has a Fact Sheet on the Afghan Adjustment Act. 

 

Please go here for the original article and links for how to know who is supporting the Afghan Adjustment Act and how to contact your senators: https://www.evacuateourallies.org/advocacy/afghan-adjustment-act