Amid inaction in Congress, some Afghan evacuees place their hope in U.S. asylum system
CBSN
More than 17,400 Afghan evacuees brought to the U.S. under a temporary legal authority have filed applications for asylum or special visa status amid Congress' failure to pass a law that would allow them to request permanent residency directly, according to unpublished government statistics shared with CBS News.
After the abrupt collapse of Afghanistan's government in August 2021, the U.S. scrambled to evacuate tens of thousands of American citizens and residents, third-country nationals and Afghans deemed to be at risk under Taliban rule, including because of their connection to America's 20-year mission in the country.
Due to the hurried evacuations, however, the vast majority of Afghan evacuees who were resettled in the U.S. did not arrive with completed immigration cases or a path to permanent legal status. Instead, U.S. officials granted them parole, a temporary authorization to enter and live in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds, after they underwent some security vetting at military bases in the Middle East and Europe.