Thousands of Afghans in U.S. Get Deportation Protections
Source: Hackman, M. (2022, March 16). Thousands of Afghans in U.S. Get Deportation Protections. Wall Street Journal.
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, a humanitarian crisis ensued and all Afghan nationals with connections to the United States faced threats to their safety. While more than 70,000 Afghans were evacuated alongside thousands of Americans in August of 2021 and granted a temporary legal status called parole, more than 2,000 Afghans that were already in the United States on temporary visas did not receive official extensions to allow them to remain in the United States legally. The United States Department of Homeland Security recently announced that the Biden Administration would be offering temporary protected status (TPS) to these more than 2,000 Afghan nationals that still sought the opportunity to legally remain in the United States. This temporary protection allows Afghans to work in the United States legally for another 18 months, and they can renew the status perpetually if the situation in Afghanistan remains dangerous and unstable. The ability to renew further proves beneficial for the aforementioned 70,000 evacuated Afghans, since the TPS program enables them to sustain their legal status even if the United States does not grant them green card status after their parole runs out. The expansion of the TPS program projects will also have positive impacts on the United States economy by allowing many Afghan nationals to work legally, and thus, increase supply in the struggling United States labor market.
4 thoughts on “Thousands of Afghans in U.S. Get Deportation Protections”
I really enjoyed this blog post, Mike. Amid so much discussion about the humanitarian crisis in Europe and a border crisis in Mexico, I enjoyed reading about immigration in Afghanistan. Extending temporary protection to Afghans with connections to the United States could help the struggling US labor market and fill some of the immigration voids from COVID. I am curious to know how many total refugees the US took in from Afghanistan.
I really enjoyed reading this post, and thought it was really interesting given the current reality in the Ukraine. I read an article that talked about how the US was giving many Ukrainian refugees something called a “humanitarian parole,” which was allowing them to live and work in the country for up to a year, while also being given the opportunity to see asylum. I wonder what the difference may be between that and the temporary protected status that you talked about, and if there are reasons as to why one was used in one situation and not the other. It’s also interesting to think about the economic affects that both these Afghan and Ukrainian people are having on the economy and its labor market, like you mentioned.
I really enjoyed reading this post, and thought it was really interesting given the current reality in the Ukraine. I read an article that talked about how the US was giving many Ukrainian refugees something called a “humanitarian parole,” which was allowing them to live and work in the country for up to a year, while also being given the opportunity to see asylum. I wonder what the difference may be between that and the temporary protected status that you talked about, and if there are reasons as to why one was used in one situation and not the other. It’s also interesting to think about the economic affects that both these Afghan and Ukrainian people are having on the economy and its labor market, like you mentioned.
Mike, this blog post was a very interesting read especially considering my research done on the Afghanistan refugee/immigrant situation for our class final project. The extension of visas for Afghans already in the U.S. lifts a tremendous amount of fear in such peoples for returning to their country would be incredibly dangerous given that they’ve been staying in the U.S. Along the lines of what you’ve stated about positive effects on U.S. labor supply, Afghans in America being able to work would better support their children/2nd generation immigrants in receiving an education and even further benefiting the U.S. economy as high-skilled workers. Moreover, demand for overall goods in the U.S. would likely increase as Afghans are able to earn an income, benefitting the entire U.S. economy.