As Vulnerable Afghans Flee Kabul, US Faith Groups Prepare to Aid Them

On Friday Biden told reporters at the White House that U.S. forces have evacuated 13,000 people since Aug. 14, and he promised SIVs the U.S. will “stand by its commitment.”

The refugee agencies are now awaiting new planeloads of evacuees, even as they have continued to help Afghan SIVs who landed before the fall of Kabul. The local office of Lutheran Social Services, according to the Washingtonian, has been transferring some refugees to temporary housing in the capital area. Local churches are reportedly pooling resources to provide more permanent housing solutions as LSS set about soliciting sponsorships or gift cards for hotel stays.

In addition, staff from a variety of organizations continue to aid Afghans with SIV applications, as well as the few who made it across the ocean this week. Among them is Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, whose director of immigrant and refugee services, Mario Russell, told RNS his team has assisted 13 Afghan SIVs who managed to make it into the U.S. over the past 10 days.

“Our case managers have met these families at the airport and brought them to temporary housing, providing basic necessities and assistance, including food, transportation assistance, clothing, access to healthcare and, over time, placement of children in schools and helping the heads of households with finding work,” Russell said in a statement.

Bill Canny, who directs the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ office of Migration and Refugee Services, said that the flow of refugees may have been halted into Fort Lee in part because U.S. authorities had shifted visa processing abroad over the weekend, and some flights with SIVs were re-routed to places such as Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

But as of Wednesday evening, the refugee agencies said they were told flights are expected to resume at Fort Lee by the weekend. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington told RNS that seven of their staff members — namely, immigration attorneys with their Newcomer Network program — stand ready to assist arrivals at Fort Lee with visa applications.

The refugee agencies are also on alert for refugees who may be landing in other countries: Some fleeing Kabul may have a “priority 2” or “P2” designation, which allows Afghans who worked for U.S. groups in various capacities to apply for refugee status in the U.S. But they can only apply if they find a way out of Afghanistan first, and the process often takes at least a year.

A spokesperson for LIRS said it’s possible some vulnerable Afghans are being taken to Kosovo, Albania and Uganda, which have all publicly offered to accept, temporarily, Afghans bound for the U.S. Reports also indicate evacuation flights are landing at an air base near Doha, Qatar, where people are being processed. As of Friday morning, a CBS news foreign affairs correspondent reported the base is now “at capacity” and may constitute a “developing humanitarian crisis.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Defense has announced plans to make Fort Bliss in Texas and Fort McCoy in Wisconsin available as part of an effort “to provide temporary housing, sustainment, and support inside the United States for up to 22,000 Afghan Special Immigration Visa applicants, their families and other at-risk individuals.”