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It’s been more than three years since the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Three years since 13 U.S. servicemembers were killed in a suicide bombing at the airport in Kabul. Three years since thousands of Afghan people gathered at the airport hoping to flee as the Taliban easily reclaimed control of the country. Amid the chaos of evacuation flights, distraught Afghan people chased and even tried clinging to departing U.S aircraft.
Afghanistan remains in dire disarray, under the control of a brutal regime that tortures its citizens, especially women for not adhering to its strict misogynistic rules. Millions of Afghan people are at risk of starvation because of the country’s economic collapse.
More than 85,000 people who fled Afghanistan have come to the U.S., the country with the largest resettlement program for those fleeing their wrecked homeland. Many of those who came to the U.S. worked with the American military, its allies and contractors during the many years of war and rebuilding in Afghanistan.
Still, many translators, Afghan military members and others who helped the U.S. military and U.S. contractors in Afghanistan were left behind in 2021. Their lives are perilous as they remain in hiding from the Taliban, which has regained control after the hasty departure of U.S. and other international forces.
Many of those who were evacuated from Afghanistan as its government fell remain in immigration limbo in the U.S. Their path to citizenship is long, slow and circuitous, if it exists at all.
Congress must fix this.
The Afghan Adjustment Act, reintroduced last year after an earlier version unfortunately languished in the previous Congress, would provide Afghans seeking refuge a process for permanent legal residency after additional vetting and would also update and expand the resettlement program specifically for Afghan partners who worked with the U.S. These changes would help both Afghans who have already been evacuated along with those who helped us but were left behind.
Even in a divided Congress, supporting the Afghans who supported us and those fleeing persecution should be a concept that unites people across Capitol Hill. The bill has bipartisan support in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, but that has not yet translated into action.
A bipartisan border and foreign aid bill, negotiated by Republicans and Democrats, included aspects of the Afghan Adjustment Act. However, the bill failed in February, after former President Donald Trump said that Republicans should reject it, presumably because he believed leaving immigration issues unresolved would improve his chances of again being elected to the White House. Sen. Susan Collins was one of four Republicans to vote for that bill.
“We must be true to our word by supporting the resettlement of carefully vetted Afghans who directly helped to ensure the safety of our troops by acting as guides, translators, drivers, and in other critical roles,” Collins said in a statement to the BDN editorial board. “I have heard from many veterans seeking my assistance in securing the safety of their Afghan aides so that they can escape the Taliban, who have targeted them.”
With an election just months away, action on a comprehensive immigration bill is highly unlikely. But, Congress can, and should, pass the Afghan Adjustment Act.
This legislation is supported by numerous veterans organizations, national security experts and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It is co-sponsored by independent Sen. Angus King in the Senate and Democratic 2nd District Rep. Jared Golden, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Afghanistan, in the House. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat representing Maine’s 1st District, co-sponsored an earlier version of the bill, as did Golden.
Brian deLutio, a retired Navy lieutenant commander who lives in Scarborough, said passing the Afghan Adjustment Act is a matter of national security. “If we fail to do the bare minimum for our allies now — which is passing the Afghan Adjustment Act — we will not have the trust or support of local partners in future conflicts,” he said in a statement shared by Maine Vets for Afghans last year.
“We counted on our Afghan allies for 20 years and told them if they stood with us we would protect them. Now we must fulfill the promises we made,” he added.
Fulfilling those promises means doing more to help our Afghan allies who were left behind and to provide certainty and permanency for those who are in America. Passing the Afghan Adjustment Act, as a standalone bill or as part of a government funding bill, would do that.
