Biden administration to refocus Afghan resettlement efforts in US – By Caroline Simon (Roll Call) / Sept 1, 2022
New long-term effort will focus on family reunification and existing immigration pathways
The Biden administration announced Thursday it would refocus its efforts to resettle vulnerable Afghans in the United States, emphasizing existing immigration pathways in a new long-term operation dubbed “Operation Enduring Welcome.”
Starting Oct. 1., the administration will resettle Afghans who fall into one of three categories: family members of U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and Afghans already brought to the United States; Afghans who are eligible for special immigrant visas; and Afghans who have received priority referrals to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
The announcement of the new operation comes roughly a year after the government brought more than 80,000 Afghans to the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome but left thousands more stranded overseas.
The administration hopes to double down on those existing immigration pathways, which lead to lawful permanent residency, as an alternative to humanitarian parole, which allows noncitizens to enter the United States temporarily without visas for pressing humanitarian reasons.
CONTINUE > https://rollcall.com/2022/09/01/biden-administration-to-refocus-afghan-resettlement-efforts-in-us/
