In late August, volunteers began telling me about increasing numbers of Afghans seeking humanitarian visas to Brazil and subsequently undertaking dangerous, expensive journeys to the United States through the Mexican border.
I asked the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the number of Afghans encountered monthly at the southern border since the withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. CBP’s figures demonstrated a 1,000% increase in encounters between fiscal year 2021 and the first 10 months of fiscal year 2022. Nearly half of the encounters in 2022 occurred in June and July, the last month for which data were provided. The numbers indicated that volunteers were correct: Afghans were risking their lives to find asylum in the U.S. even as our allies suffered amid interminable visa and refugee processing backlogs.
BIDEN CONTINUES TO FAIL AFGHAN ALLIES
At the end of September, I wanted to know if the huge upward spike in border crossings had continued. I asked CBP for the number of Afghans encountered at the border during August 2022. It did not send updated figures.
The unresponsiveness of U.S. government agencies in relation to areas concerning post-withdrawal Afghanistan isn’t just unfortunate — it’s a disgrace. Numerous agencies simply avoided my requests for information. Others inundated me with information I did not request. For example, when I asked the Department of State for updates about the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, it offered little pertinent information but a great deal of self-applause. Among its non sequiturs was the statement that the Department of State has “directly supported the travel of at least 811 U.S. citizens and 609 [legal permanent residents] out of Afghanistan since August [2021.]’
This braggadocio falls flat in face of the facts. I have personally corresponded with two U.S. citizens who were evacuated from Afghanistan in 2022. Former combat interpreters, they traveled to Afghanistan to force the State Department to evacuate the terrified family members they sponsored for citizenship. Unfortunately, both men were forced to leave severely traumatized siblings in Afghanistan.
Khan, who was evacuated in May, told me his parents have been stuck in Doha, Qatar, for nearly five months. Even though, that is, they were told processing would take two months. I was recently contacted by a handler who spoke on condition of anonymity about frustrations with two cases involving U.S. citizens who remain stuck overseas. One has been stranded in Pakistan for more than six months waiting for his case to be processed while he supports two children with no income. Another returned to Afghanistan to rush his sick baby to Pakistan for urgent medical treatment. He has now returned to Afghanistan. With no income, he has awaited evacuation for around three months. In August, another legal permanent resident told me he waited six months in Afghanistan without receiving support from the U.S. in evacuating his wife and child. His family remains in Afghanistan, though he said he eventually escaped across the Turkish border to return to the U.S.
For U.S. government agencies to block the flow of information that would help volunteers assist struggling Afghans is an unconscionable affront to our national honor. And it is a betrayal of our allies.
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Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.
