US refugee organizations race to prepare for Afghan influx

Nine non-profit organizations that have contracted with the US State Department to help refugees find homes, jobs and other social services now have enough money to hire enough staff, sign up volunteers, and properly resettle Afghans. running to collect.

Some leaders of those organizations say the government has not provided accurate figures about how many Afghans the organizations should expect to encounter – or how quickly those people will arrive. The Department of Homeland Security, the lead agency coordinating the resettlement effort, did not respond to a request for comment.

According to two people on the call, resettlement-agency leaders held a call with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Meyercas on Sunday, in which they promised their cooperation, but mostly listened to the issues raised.

The groups also do not know which of the visiting Afghans will come with an approved special immigrant visa, which entitles them to services including health care and food assistance for months. The visa program was designed for Afghans who served with the US military during the two-decade war.

The government has told agencies to expect 50,000 Afghans to arrive without visas, meaning their resettlement without changes to the law will rely heavily on private donations.

“We’re going to make it work, no matter how difficult, but I’d lie to you if I said we weren’t worried,” said Mark Hetfield, president of HIAS, one of the contracted rehabilitation agencies.

The effort would be a heavy lift under any circumstances, but it is made more challenging by the cuts nine rehabilitation agencies say they were forced into under former President Donald Trump. Mr Trump had accepted a record small number of refugees into his office each year.

The agencies, most of which are affiliated with religious denominations, are paid by the US government for how many refugees they resettle. Under the Trump administration, they collectively closed nearly a third of their offices nationwide, according to Refugee Council USA. Low resettlement numbers meant that many of the relationships that the organization maintained—with landlords willing to rent for new arrivals and businesses willing to hire refugees—also eroded.

But when organizations lack the resources, they say they come forward to aid the effort by donating their time, belongings and even extra room to the growing interest of ordinary Americans. are.

Local rehabilitation officials say they have seen an unprecedented flow of support to volunteers with so many calls and emails that they now lack the staff to answer all inquiries. Many organizations also set up lists of toiletries, toys, and other essentials through Amazon.com—and Amazon boxes are stacking up faster than employees can open them.

Freedom Hope Church, a non-denominational church in northwest Chicago, has raised thousands of dollars over the past few weeks and is beginning to raise volunteers to help move newly arrived Afghans into apartments and prompt them for medical appointments. have make. Pastor Dom Martin, whose church had never worked with refugees until now, said he felt struck by news images of people fleeing the airport in Kabul.

He called the local office of World Relief, another resettlement agency located a few blocks from his church, and learned that the refugees would be resettled nearby.

“I was like, Wow, they’re coming to our neighborhood. We need to help,” he said.

Major US companies have also offered help, including Airbnb Inc. has promised to house 20,000 Afghan refugees worldwide and Walmart Inc. has pledged $1 million to refugee groups.

According to group president Krish O’Mara Vignaraja, the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of the resettlement agencies, has received volunteer offers from 42,000 people in the past two weeks alone. By comparison, the group receives about a dozen offers during a typical week, he said. Still, he estimates that around 35,000 more volunteers will be needed to meet the expected need in the next few months.

The nature of evacuation is making the rehabilitation process uniquely difficult. Most departing Afghans have had time to pack only the most essential items such as travel documents, and some are arriving in the US with personal property. According to Atelva Bezko, director of refugee and immigration services at San Diego’s Jewish Family Service, aid groups are now being routinely alerted about impending arrivals with about 24-hour notice instead of days or weeks under normal circumstances. Is.

The US has opted to allow many Afghans to enter the US without visas, instead relying on an immigration program known as humanitarian parole that allows people to enter the country temporarily. Is.

They are not entitled to any resettlement benefits borne by formal refugees. Although Congress allocated $500 million for the administration to provide some benefits to these people, resettlement leaders say this money would not meet all the needs of the 50,000 people they were expected to.

The immigration program results in no permanent immigration status, which means that most Afghans placed on parole in the country will need to apply for another visa for asylum or permission to stay.