Washington, D.C.—On March 31, Church World Service, alongside 24 other members of the Evacuate Our Allies coalition, delivered a letter to senior cabinet officials expressing grave concern over recent policy changes targeting Afghan nationals. The letter calls out the ongoing blanket halt in immigration benefits processing; the indiscriminate re-review and targeting of resettled Afghans; and the shuttering of humanitarian pathways like the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program for those who remain overseas and at risk.
The letter —directed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow—reads in part:
“Afghan allies who stood with the United States did so at extraordinary personal risk. Closing legal pathways, reopening settled cases without evidence of wrongdoing, and leaving families in further limbo is an abdication of our values and makes our country less safe and less prosperous.”
The letter was signed by a wide range of organizations representing religious, Afghan-American, veteran, front-line civilian, and refugee serving communities.
“The spate of policy restrictions impacting Afghans and so many others is putting families in danger and unraveling the lives of so many who had begun to rebuild in safety,” Said Danilo Zak, Director of Policy at Church World Service. “After years of promises to Afghan allies, this administration has offered only silence – falling short of even basic engagement and transparency with the communities bearing the brunt of these destabilizing policies. Secretaries Rubio and Mullin, and Director Edlow must follow through on our promises, meet with community groups and service providers, and rescind policies that are harming our communities.”
The letter comes as almost every legal, humanitarian pathway for those forced to leave their homes—in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela, the Congo, Syria, and beyond— has been closed or corrupted under the current administration.
To read the full letter, click here.
To learn more about Evacuate our Allies visit evacuateourallies.org.
To speak with Zak contact media@cwsglobal.org.