Lawmakers sponsor bill to give Afghan evacuees path to US citizenship

Democrats and Republicans introduce identical versions of bill in Congress, days before first anniversary of final US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Many of the 76,000 Afghans flown out in last year's evacuation operation entered the United States on humanitarian parole. (AP Archive)

Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in both houses of US Congress to establish a path to American citizenship for thousands of Afghan evacuees admitted to the US on temporary immigration status.

"We must keep our commitment to provide safe, legal refuge to those who willingly put their lives on the line to support the US mission in Afghanistan," Democratic Representative Earl Blumenauer, co-sponsor of the House bill with Republican Peter Meijer, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The bill also would expand eligibility for Special Immigration Visas (SIVs) beyond Afghans who worked for the US government to those who fought alongside US forces as commandoes and air force personnel, and to women who served in special counterterrorism teams.

Identical versions of the bill were introduced days before the first anniversary of the final US troop withdrawal and the chaotic evacuation operation that ended America's longest war and saw the Taliban taking over Kabul.

Resistance to bill

Three minority Republicans, including Senator Lindsey Graham, joined three majority Democrats in introducing an identical version of the Afghanistan Adjustment Act in the thinly divided Senate, enhancing its chances of passage.

Even so, a congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the measure likely will face "resistance" from anti-immigration Republicans.

Many of the 76,000 Afghans flown out in last year's evacuation operation entered the United States on humanitarian parole, a temporary immigration status that typically only lasts up to two years.

The legislation would allow those evacuees to apply for permanent legal status if they submit to additional background checks.

Generally, those Afghans only can gain permanent legal status in the United States by applying for asylum or through SIVs, programmes beset by major backlogs.

Source: Reuters

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'Documented Dreamers' push for citizenship path

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For hundreds of thousands of young legal immigrants, the clock is ticking toward self-deportation.

Dip Patel was born in India, but after a stop in Canada, he came to the United States legally on his parents' work visa when he was just nine years old.

Country caps on certain employment-based visas mean when more than 200,000 - like Dip - turn 21 years old, they age out of the system, are forced to wait in line for a green card or even leave the country.

"Something that most people aren't aware of, that it's possible for an immigrant child to be brought here legally, be raised and educated here, but then still not have a clear way to stay or a path to citizenship," Patel told Fox News.

DOCUMENTED DREAMERS WEIGH SELF-DEPORTATION, SAY THEY'VE BEEN LEFT BEHIND BY CONGRESS

Documented Dreamers hold a press conference on Capitol Hill, Aug. 4, 2022. (Pool Video)

Patel and others in his group, Improve the Dream have worked for years to try and bring awareness to documented dreamers. Fox News first interviewed him in 2019. Advocates from both sides of the aisle are working to slow down the ticking clock.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office. (Reuters/Keith Bedford)

"We are termed as documented dreamers. That is to emphasize that we are children who grew up here, but we did have some sort of a documented legal status, he said.

Iowa Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks was one of the first members to raise her hand to help 18 months ago.

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"We need these young talented people. Unlike talk of other individuals who come here illegally through no fault of their own, these young people are here with their parents," she said.

Miller-Meeks helped craft what became America’s Children Act. It passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act in the House earlier this year. The Senate will vote this fall.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, helped create the America's Children Act. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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If passed and signed by President Biden, Patel and other documented dreamers will have breathing room, so they don't lose their place in the long and getting longer green card line.

"This is so important because we are your friends, we are your neighbors, we are Americans, and we love this country."

David Spunt currently serves as a Washington D.C. based correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in December 2018.

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