The Biden administration said last week it would “phas[e] out the use of [humanitarian] parole” starting Oct. 1 and focus resettlement efforts on special immigrant visa applicants, the “most vulnerable” refugee program referrals. It will also focus on Afghans with family members residing in the United States.

This statement is virtually meaningless. Although around 90% of Afghans evacuated in August 2021 were admitted to the U.S. through parole, only 123 of around 66,000 Afghan humanitarian parole applicants were accepted between July 2021 and May 2022. Additionally, there are no details about how this announcement benefits hundreds of thousands of Afghans who are awaiting evacuation from Afghanistan and third countries.