US to Revise Resettlement Policy for Afghans

Facts

• A senior U.S. official said that President Biden seeks to suspend the temporary relocation of Afghans to the United States in favor of reuniting immediate family members with pathways to permanent residency.
• The administration is no longer planning to allow Afghans to enter the country under 'humanitarian parole authority' starting on Oct. 1. Humanitarian parole authority admits at-risk Afghans to bypass the years-long waiting times on visa or refugee processes.
• On Thurs., White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre stated "we are adopting a new model where Afghan arrivals will travel directly to the communities where they will be moving with the help of refugee resettlement organizations without a safe haven stopover in the United States."
• Under the current phase, the U.S. has resettled roughly 86K Afghans, 90% of whom were admitted through the parole process.
• As of July, there were more than 74K applicants in the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) pipeline.
• The move comes as the Biden admin. has faced recent criticism regarding its handling of Afghan refugees, many of whom were evacuated as the US withdrew from the country.

Sources: Reuters, CBS, and CNN.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Breitbart. Afghanistan's refugee fiasco is just another example of the Biden administration's incompetence. The White House has had an entire year to streamline this process and has finally done so in response to enormous and understandable political pressure.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by CNN. The Biden administration is going above and beyond to help America's Afghan allies who fled the Taliban onslaught last year as a result of the hasty agreement made under former President Trump. President Biden continues to prove his commitment to U.S. allies and protecting those who have upheld U.S. values across the globe.

Predictions