As the Senate continues its debate over a national security supplemental funding bill, advocates are calling on lawmakers to approve an amendment that would give Afghans who were evacuated during the US’ withdrawal of Afghanistan a path to permanent legal residency in the US.
The amendment, introduced by Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican Sen. Jerry Moran on Friday, would “allow Afghan allies to apply for permanent legal residency to provide certainty as they build their lives in the United States after undergoing thorough vetting,” according to a news release from Klobuchar.
It is based on the bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act, which was reintroduced last year. The amendment was introduced Friday with a list of co-sponsors that included Republican Sens. Roger Wicker, Lindsey Graham and Thom Tillis, as well as Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Chris Coons and Jeanne Shaheen.
Speaking on the Senate floor Friday, Klobuchar said there are roughly 80,000 Afghan refugees in the US who “served as interpreters, they served as intel gatherers, they put their own lives and their families’ lives at risk.” The amendment has “a heavy-duty vetting process,” Klobuchar said, adding that “the vast majority of these people are here already.”
“Are we going to send these people who stood with our troops back to the arms of the Taliban?” Klobuchar said. “Or are we going to do what’s right?”
Shawn VanDiver, the founder of #AfghanEvac — a coalition of organizations that assisted in evacuating Afghans during the 2021 withdrawal — told CNN the war in Afghanistan and the “obligation that we have to our allies is not a Republican problem or a Democrat problem.”
“It’s an American problem. It’s an American obligation. And our allies are watching….
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