The Biden administration has rapidly accepted refugees fleeing Russia’s devastating invasion of Ukraine.
At least 15,000 Ukrainian refugees were recently processed at unprecedented speed to enter the United States from Tijuana, Mexico. As of last week, “Uniting for Ukraine” will grant up to two years of humanitarian parole to up to 100,000 additional Ukrainian refugees with American financial sponsors. No speedy relief has been offered to Afghans, who have been subjected to oppression, starvation, and turmoil since Biden’s ill-managed withdrawal in August 2021. This includes tens of thousands of allies who live in danger and squalor because of their faithful service to the U.S.
In the first quarter of fiscal 2022, the Department of State approved just 117 Afghan principal applicants to the special immigrant visa program, reserved for interpreters, or individuals who worked with the U.S. government. According to the Hill, about 45,000 Afghans have filed humanitarian parole applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Thus far, only 2,600 applications have been processed. About 2,250, or 85%, were denied.
From Afghan applicants, USCIS has likely taken in nearly $26 million in filing fees of $575 per applicant. For Uniting for Ukraine, there is no fee to apply for humanitarian parole. In fact, Ukrainians who previously submitted standard humanitarian parole applications can recoup their normally nonrefundable filing fees.
A further accounting of inequities between Afghan and Ukrainian refugees is not possible. After declaring intent to respond, USCIS never answered my questions about the numbers of Ukrainian and Afghan humanitarian parole applicants, or how the agency was prioritizing their processing before Uniting for Ukraine took effect.
While acknowledging the danger facing Ukrainians, U.S. officials minimize the devastation in Afghanistan. Echoing Taliban talking points, Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed last week that Afghanistan was experiencing “greater stability and relative peace than there’s been.”
Stability is a delusion. During the month of Ramadan, multiple bombings throughout Afghanistan killed hundreds. Targets included schools in Hazara Shiite neighborhoods of Kabul, a Hazara Shiite mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, and a Sunni mosque in Kabul. Rather than peaceful, “hopeless” is a term many Afghan women tell me describes their current lives. Most are unable to work. A number have been beaten for leaving their homes without a male relative. They see no future for themselves or their daughters, who are still not allowed to attend secondary schools.
The Taliban continue to kidnap and kill former enemies with impunity. Last month, a former member of the Ministry of Interior returned to work after a promise of amnesty from the Taliban. Weeks later, sources tell me the Taliban tortured and killed him. In the past several weeks, sources also indicate the Taliban have secretly arrested multiple National Directorate of Security personnel with intimate knowledge of U.S. intelligence techniques. Their fates remain unknown. The vast majority of Afghans do not have access to adequate food. Indeed, desperate Afghans have sold their children to afford food.
The hundreds of Afghans I correspond with are financially and emotionally devastated. Just a few have found employment. Most cannot afford food and rent. Many are allies living alone in hiding to shield their families from Taliban violence. Numerous Afghans with referrals to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program tell me they do not have the assets to travel to third countries and support themselves while undergoing 12-18 months of processing. One special immigrant visa applicant wants to sell an organ to feed his children. A former Afghan government employee said he has been selling his blood.
In March, a Department of Defense report to Congress stated $7.12 billion in military equipment purchased with U.S. taxpayer dollars was left behind after the withdrawal from Afghanistan. No such count has been made of the lives of left-behind allies imperiled by Biden’s decision-making. It is morally repugnant for the U.S. government to expedite relief to Ukrainian refugees while abandoning tens of thousands of Afghan men and women who supported the U.S. mission.
Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.
