According to a senior Biden Administration official, some Afghan nationals are being allowed to enter the United States without visas. According to the official, for this arrangement to work, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is granting "humanitarian parole" to Afghans without visas.
The "humanitarian parole" designation is granted in special circumstances to foreign nationals "for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit," as the Immigration and Nationality Act describes.
Some Afghans have been issued Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) before fleeing from the collapsing nation, the DHS official told reporters in a call, adding:
In other instances, the secretary of Homeland Security is using his parole authority, including his ability to impose particular conditions of parole on those arriving to ensure that those who are reaching here are doing so, obviously with appropriate legal status.
According to the official from Biden's DHS, the special parole is currently being granted to Afghans who have applied for SIVs but have not been granted them - the DHS official refused to answer when asked if humanitarian parole is being granted to Afghans who did not apply for SIVs.
Nevertheless, the question is raised, what happens if a foreign national currently in Afghanistan applies for an SIV, is not fully vetted considering the deteriorating crisis and lack of time, is granted humanitarian parole, subsequently sent to the U.S., and is found to be inadmissible after the fact?
Officials say every Afghan being flown to the United States is being "screened," but DHS and the State Department refused to explain in any way as to what such "screening" entails.
According to the Epoch Times, "Through March, almost 100,000 people from Iraq and Afghanistan were granted SIVs. It's not clear how many visas are left under the program, which was expanded twice by Congress within the last year. Military officials are preparing space at four bases to temporarily house 25,000 Afghans."
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