Thousands of more Afghans who may be targeted by the Taliban because of their ties to the United States but are ineligible for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) will be able to resettle as refugees in the United States, according to the State Department.
Priority 2 Refugee Program
In a recently published article in CNN News, the Department of State has identified groups of particular concern as having access to the program due to their conditions and evident need for resettlement, and these groups are classified as Priority 2.
Afghans who did not satisfy the SIV program's minimum "time in service" criteria but "work or worked as workers of contractors, locally-employed personnel, interpreters/translators" for the U.S. government, U.S., or NATO troops, according to the State Department.
Additionally, those who work or have worked in Afghanistan for a US government-funded program or project supported by a US government grant or cooperative agreement, as well as those who work or have worked in Afghanistan for a US-based media organization or non-governmental organization, will be given Priority 2 designation, making them eligible for the refugee program, according to a published article in Reuters.
State Department Started Processing the Special immigration Visa
The process of filing for a Special Immigrant Visa to immigrate to the United States may take years, and the State Department has said that approximately 10,000 individuals in the SIV pipeline had just recently started the process due to the violence in Afghanistan.
As the violence in Afghanistan has increased in recent weeks, legislators, activists, and non-profit organizations have expressed worry that the Biden administration would not be able to swiftly transfer SIV candidates who assisted American soldiers and diplomats, according to a published article in Local News 8.
This designation allows thousands of Afghans and their immediate family members to permanently resettle in the United States who would otherwise be ineligible for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) due to lack of qualifying employment or time-in-service requirements.
First Group of Afghans Arrived in the United States
Aboard Friday, the first group of Afghan citizens who helped US and NATO coalition troops throughout America's longest war flew in from Kabul on evacuation planes. As foreign forces leave the war-torn country, the Biden administration announced the start of evacuation flights for Afghan citizens and their immediate families earlier this month, according to a published article in CNBC.
Meanwhile, more than 200 Afghan immigrants and their immediate families are aboard the first evacuation flight, which is part of the Operation Allies Refuge relocation program. Those who wanted coronavirus immunization were given the vaccine in Kabul while those who refused were given a Covid-19 test.
Senior deputy Homeland Security Advisor Russ Travers said the intelligence community, as well as the Departments of State and Homeland Security, have all done thorough security background checks on them. He also explained that after being paroled into the United States and passing a medical test as required by law, these Afghan special immigrants will be placed in cities throughout the nation with the help of the United States Refugee Admissions Program.
