Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area (LSSNCA) welcomes today’s announcement that the tens of thousands of Afghans who were evacuated through humanitarian parole following the fall of Kabul have the ability to work and stay in the U.S. for two more years.
“We, along with the more than 4,600 adults and children LSSNCA welcomed, are breathing a collective sigh of relief,” said LSSNCA CEO, Kristyn Peck, “Uncertainty about their ability to stay in the U.S. has been a stress factor for our Afghan neighbors who have already experienced so much turmoil,” she said. “Although we welcome this stop gap, we urge Congress to pass the bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act to make it clear to our allies that this isn’t a temporary stay, but their home.”
Having provided resettlement services to the largest number of Afghan Allies on the East Coast, LSSNCA has been in the trenches with allies and their families ensuring their ongoing, safe resettlement by setting up homes in their new community, ensuring their kids are enrolled in school, and connecting them with employment opportunities.
As Afghan evacuees have a
temporary status, LSSNCA has hosted pro se asylum and legal workshops to assist thousands of individuals over the past year-and-half with applying for asylum and renewing their Employment Authorization Documents. Navigating the lengthy and complex asylum process and continued extensions to humanitarian parole would be unnecessary if the Afghan Adjustment Act was passed.
