Middle East, refugee expert available to discuss Afghan resettling

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Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

Avery Franklin
713-348-6327
averyrf@rice.edu

Middle East, refugee expert available to discuss Afghan resettling

HOUSTON – (Aug. 27, 2021) – As Afghan refugees fleeing the chaos in their home country head to the United States, Kelsey Norman, fellow for the Middle East and director of the Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is available to speak about the resettlement process.

After the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, some evacuated Afghans have been flown directly to military bases on American soil. But most Afghan refugees are being sent to overseas air bases and third countries, including Sudan, Colombia, Kosovo and Albania. Norman argues that the U.S. is dodging responsibility by distributing refugees across the globe, which will force them to wade through more bureaucracy.

“(President Joe) Biden’s worry of a reprisal from right-wing politicians, news outlets and voters likely explains his administration’s attempts to look for third-country solutions, rather than bringing evacuated Afghans directly to the United States,” Norman wrote in a new policy brief.

“Biden should not let his apparent fear of a right-wing nativist backlash prevent him from admitting refugees directly to U.S. territory,” she continued. “Biden would do well to remember that resettling Afghans — especially wartime allies — has support from a wide, cross-cutting swath of voters, including U.S. veterans. In fact, a CBS/YouGov poll from Aug. 18 found that 81% of voters supported resettling Afghans who worked with the U.S. military.”

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The U.S. government created the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program in 2006 to help Afghans resettle in this country. It provides a pathway not only for those who worked as interpreters or in another capacity for the U.S. military for at least two years, but also for their families.

About 77,000 Afghans have been resettled in the U.S. through the SIV program as of May, but it has been riddled with bureaucratic inconsistencies and backlogs, leaving at least 18,000 applicants and 53,000 family members at risk in Afghanistan, according to Norman. The program slowed further during the Trump administration and as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“On Aug. 24, the Biden administration acquiesced to the demands of refugee advocates who had asked that Afghans be allowed to enter the U.S. under a little-known immigration tool called humanitarian parole,” Norman wrote. “Invoking humanitarian parole has historical precedents, such as its use by President Gerald Ford to evacuate Vietnamese nationals during the fall of Saigon in 1975.”

The U.S. has evacuated many Afghans to military bases, including Fort Bliss in Texas, Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, Fort Lee in Virginia and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. Once processed, these refugees will be relocated across the U.S. via resettlement agencies, which include nonprofits and faith-based organizations contracted by the U.S. government.

Most Afghans will not make it to the U.S., though. Afghanistan’s closest neighbors, Pakistan and Iran, have been hosting refugees for most of the Americans’ 20-year military campaign.

“The U.S. needs to better share the responsibility, especially given its direct role in Afghan displacement,” she wrote. “The Biden administration proposed a refugee resettlement ceiling of 125,000 for FY 2022, but should raise this further considering the number of Afghans currently leaving their country as a direct result of the U.S. withdrawal.”

Norman argues that the U.S. also needs to increase its humanitarian assistance to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and smaller nongovernmental organizations working with Afghans.

To schedule an interview with Norman, or for more information, contact Avery Franklin, media relations specialist at Rice, at averyrf@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.

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Related materials:

Brief: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/media/files/files/a7280659/bi-brief-082621-cme-afghan.pdf.

Norman bio: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/kelsey-norman/.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

This news release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks as the No. 1 university-affiliated think tank in the world and the No. 1 energy think tank in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blog.bakerinstitute.org.