Euro International News :A number of US senators introduced a bill to the US Congress on Tuesday, August 9 (18 Asad), according to which the conditions for applying for permanent residence in the US will be made easier for Afghans.
This draft law called “Afghan Amendment Act” has the support of both parties – Democrats and Republicans – in both houses of Congress – the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Senators who introduced the bill include Roy Blunt, Amy Klobuchar, Lindsay Graham, Chris Coons, Lisa Murkowski, and Richard Blumenthal. Peter Major and Earl Blumenauer are leading a similar bill in the US House of Representatives.
According to a statement published by these senators, this bill allows those Afghans who have temporary residence to apply for permanent residence or green card in the United States without going through additional procedures.
Currently, Afghans who have been accepted under the Humanitarian Parole program can only obtain US permanent residency through the refugee system or the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), but these two processes They face overcrowding and it takes a lot of time.
The Afghan Adjustment Bill also improves and expands the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) process. According to this bill, those Afghan forces who fought alongside the US forces, such as the Special Operations Command of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan Women’s Tactical Teams, will be included in a special US immigration visa.
In this announcement, Senator Blunt said that about a year ago, thousands of Afghan allies left their homes after their country fell to the Taliban.
Blunt said that the Afghans who left their country during the evacuation process stood by the US military and supported the US mission in Afghanistan by risking their safety and that of their loved ones.
Blunt said, “I urge my colleagues [in Congress] to support this bipartisan effort and help those who helped us.”
Another US senator, Klobuchar, said that “giving our Afghan allies a chance to apply for permanent residency is the right thing to do and the right thing to do.”
Senator Klobuchar said that the Afghans who have recently come to the United States have sacrificed a lot for America and deserve to start their new lives in this country.
Klobuchar added: “It is important to do what we can to help our Afghan friends so that they can find stability and opportunity in their new home.”
Senator Graham also said that he expects the problem of the number of Afghans who have been allowed to enter the United States through humanitarian temporary residence to be addressed in a way that strengthens the national security of the United States and, at the same time, “fulfills its obligations to those “They helped us” by risking their lives.
During more than two weeks of evacuation operations from Afghanistan, more than 124,000 people, including foreign citizens, Afghan colleagues of the US forces and the US government, and vulnerable Afghans were moved out of Afghanistan.
However, the fate of thousands of special immigrant visa applicants who have helped the American government and military over the past two decades and are still in Afghanistan remains unclear.
