Afghan Humanitarian Parole

Background

Since July 2021, Afghans have filed more than 66,000 applications for Humanitarian Parole, in an attempt to access one of the only pathways available to them to seek refuge and family reunification in the U.S. The U.S. has taken in nearly $20 million in fees. A coalition of more than 200 organizations, including members of the Evacuate Our Allies Coalition, requested a parole program for Afghans formally in October 2021, December 2021, and February 2022. The ACLU of Massachusetts has filed suit to challenge the way that these applications are being treated.

The U.S. owes it to Afghans after decades of foreign policy decisions that have produced the conditions that Afghans are now fleeing. Instead, we have gotten nothing but excuses on the part of the government, and denials. USCIS has approved only 123 Afghan HP applications since last July. 

While it has refused to create an Afghan parole program, it has rolled out Uniting for Ukraine, a online portal with no fee attached, that has quickly resulted in 68,000 approvals in a matter of weeks. This is a needed program, but the glaring disparities have made it more clear that the U.S. can and must do more for Afghans. 

Reported shifts in policy, including the designation of TPS, and some internal guidelines around evidentiary standards, fall short and have not changed adjudication trends.  That’s why we need your help pushing the government to act to meet our demands, by using the tool below to make calls to your Members of Congress. In addition to Congress passing the Afghan Adjustment Act, we need the administration to use its existing power to bring more Afghans to safety faster.

What’s being done?

Use the links to the left to take action with us. We’ve been pressuring the government at all levels, behind closed doors and in public. We need your help shedding a light on the disparities that Afghans face, the inaccessibility of the few pathways available to them, and the urgent need for the government to use authority it already has to bring more Afghans to safety. We need you to join us in publicly bearing witness to this injustice.

We encourage folks to share their stories and to engage in individual advocacy with their members of Congress.

Visit our Take Action page, and use our toolkit to support our efforts.

There is also ongoing litigation on this issue. Learn more about the ACLU of Massachusett’s lawsuit here, which addresses the policy changes towards Afghan HP applicants.

Data on Afghan HP Applications

The American Immigration Council (AIC) and IRAP filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to gather data on the adjudication of Afghan HP applications. You can find AIC’s report on the findings here. IRAP’s report on the FOIA data findings are linked here.

In addition, Reveal News worked alongside Project ANAR to report findings for a separate FOIA request for data. You can see our report here.