USCIS Chooses to Deny Assistance to Afghan Allies Receiving Death Threats

The IRC has been assisting an Afghan family that has been trying to reunite ever since the withdrawal of the U.S. and the subsequent fall of the Afghan government. Several members of the family reside in the U.S. and have previously served as interpreters, law enforcement, and employees of the U.N., before moving to the United States and becoming permanent residents. However, due to the long wait times required by immigration law, they had to leave behind their parents and 2 minor siblings, hoping that they could eventually reunite. Their situation became urgent when the Taliban took control of their city, Kabul, and they were forced to go into hiding, having previously received death threats from the Taliban due to their children's assistance to the U.S. We filed emergency requests for them to be evacuated alongside the other allies and family members, and after being denied by the Department of State, we filed emergency requests for humanitarian parole, hoping that the family could somehow escape the country, even though all land borders were now closed to them.

With great disappointment, almost a full year after sending an emergency request for humanitarian parole to the U.S. government, we finally received an answer - the government does not think that the family is in a dire enough situation to warrant parole. This is the experience of around 46,000 other applicants who filed for humanitarian parole from Afghanistan, who are experiencing a denial rate of approximately 95%. We are disappointed that USCIS has chosen to use its vast discretionary powers and administrative resources to deny assistance to family members of Afghan allies who have sacrificed so much to advance the interests of the U.S.

We are not giving up, however, and will continue to pursue creative options to try to reunite the family through alternate means. We thank you for your financial assistance - without which this family would not be able to pursue any legal assistance whatsoever, as all their disposable income is being used to help their family members still in Afghanistan survive and remain in hiding.