Expands resettlement eligibility

Biden administration expands resettlement eligibility for Afghans amid Taliban gains

The State Department’s effort comes after the first round of Afghan interpreters and their families began arriving in the United States last week.

By QUINT FORGEY

The Biden administration is broadening the opportunity for Afghans affiliated with the U.S. war effort, the U.S. government or U.S. media organizations to permanently resettle in the United States — citing ramped up violence by the Taliban as the reason for the expansion.

The administration’s effort comes after the first round of Afghan nationals began arriving in the United States on Friday, traveling to Virginia’s Fort Lee U.S. Army base. Among the more than 200-person group were U.S.-allied Afghan interpreters — applicants for the State Department’s Special Immigrant Visa program — and their family members.

But on Monday, the State Department announced a “Priority 2” designation for its U.S. Refugee Admissions Program that would expand the pool of Afghans eligible for relocation to the United States beyond those applying for Special Immigrant Visas.

The move aims to ensure the safety of “thousands of Afghans and their immediate family members who may be at risk due to their U.S. affiliation but who are not eligible for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) because they did not have qualifying employment, or because they have not met the time-in-service requirement to become eligible,” according to the State Department.

Afghans newly eligible for evacuation by the United States under the Priority 2 designation include those “who do not meet the minimum time-in-service for a SIV but who work or worked as” employees of contractors, locally-employed staff, interpreters or translators for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan or the U.S. government.

Also eligible are Afghans “who work or worked for a U.S. government-funded program or project in Afghanistan supported through a U.S. government grant or cooperative agreement,” as well as those “who are or were employed in Afghanistan by a U.S.-based media organization or non-governmental organization.”

The State Department said in a statement that the decision to create the Priority 2 designation came “in light of increased levels of Taliban violence,” as the Islamist fundamentalist militia continues to make rapid advances across Afghanistan ahead of the full withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country this month.

The Taliban has recently escalated its fighting in Afghanistan’s urban areas, reportedly launching rockets at airports in Kandahar and Herat on Saturday. Of the country’s 407 districts, 219 have now fallen under Taliban control, and the group is contesting another 110, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

The State Department is already considering relocating a second round of Afghan interpreters to countries outside the United States under the Special Immigrant Visa program in August. This next group — comprised of roughly 4,000 Special Immigrant Visa applicants and their family members — could total as many as 20,000 people evacuated and eventually brought to the United States.