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Brian deLutio of Scarborough is a retired U.S. Navy lieutenant commander. The views expressed are those of the author only, and not those of the Department of Defense.
Almost three years ago, I wrote a column for the Bangor Daily News explaining why, as a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, I thought it was crucial for Maine’s members of Congress to support the Afghan Adjustment Act in order to honor our moral commitment to those Afghans who supported U.S. forces after the Taliban took control of the country and put their lives in danger. As a member of Maine Vets for Afghans, I joined with other work being done around the country to advocate for standing by our wartime allies and highlighting that doing otherwise is a national security risk because future allies may think twice about helping us. However, while three of our four members of Congress supported the bill, it still failed to pass. Another attempt, the Fulfilling Promises to Afghan Allies, also stalled without passage.
During these years many Afghans were able to make their way to the U.S. and escape danger to themselves and their families through humanitarian parole. A good number of them currently reside in Maine. Humanitarian parole allowed Afghans fleeing the Taliban to come and remain in the U.S. on a temporary basis and seek permanent protection here.
With Congress’s failure to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act or the Fulfilling Promises to Afghan Allies, Afghans are desperate to find another way to safely remain here, but are left with few options. One of those was Temporary Protected Status, another temporary program but one that Congress designed to be renewable so long as life-threatening conditions in a country remain. This is clearly the case with Afghanistan today.
The recent decision by the Department of Homeland Security to rescind the TPS designation for Afghanistan while also severely limiting other humanitarian pathways to seek safety in the U.S. has put the 11,700 Afghans who made it here in the horrible position of returning this summer to a country where they will be in grave peril.
In a cruel twist of fate, tens of thousands of Afghans and their families who have been approved for the Special Immigrant Visa program after years of in-depth vetting — a program that does allow our allies to come to the U.S. and have a path to remain permanently — are currently unable to make their way to the U.S. because State Department funding and travel to do so has been paused. About 3,000 of these people are family of active duty U.S. military members. They are now stuck in limbo in a third country or remain in Afghanistan living in constant fear.
I once again call on Maine’s congressional delegation to take action on a version of the Afghan Adjustment Act or Fulfilling Promises to Afghan Allies bill that would create a streamlined pathway to a more permanent status for Afghans in the U.S. I also call on them to exercise their powers of oversight and appropriations to bring those Afghans who already have SIV approval to the U.S.
Thousands of Afghans served alongside us honorably during the 20 years our troops were deployed in their country. Ensuring their safety and that of their families is a moral imperative. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jard Golden, exercise your legislative power to ensure the safety of our wartime allies.
