As thousands of Afghan migrants are being processed and transferred to the United States, the White House is requesting Congress make welfare benefits available to Afghan nationals paroled into the nation.
During the chaotic US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan as the Taliban took over the nation, US troops helped evacuate more than 116,000 people from Kabul, including 6,000 Americans.
This week, the White House asked Congress for $6.4 billion in funds to help resettle the Afghan evacuees. Part of the funding would go towards authorizing Afghan evacuees who have been paroled into the United States and cleared background checks or screenings to receive welfare benefits and qualify for a driver’s license or ID card. To be eligible, all individuals must have been paroled in the US between July 30 and Sept. 30 of this year.
All who are eligible would be subject to additional background checks and screenings at any time by Homeland Security.
By being granted parole, these individuals will have a year-long grace period to apply for asylum or other visas. The language change requested would seemingly make it easier for Afghan refugees to settle in the US, by providing English training and placing them in jobs, and for the migrants to receive “entitlement programs”
“Without the anomaly, paroled individuals from Afghanistan would not be eligible for resettlement assistance, entitlement programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food assistance, and other benefits,” the White House outlined in their request. “The language also authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to adjust the status of these individuals to that of a lawful permanent resident upon meeting requisite criteria.”
The White House requested $193 million be appropriated to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services to expand this authority and support adjudication requirements.
As the federal government’s budget is set to run out by the end of September and there is no clear plan on whether the debt ceiling will be raised, it is unclear whether Congress will approve the White House’s budget requests.
Thousands of Afghan refugees have been transported to US military bases that can collectively house up to 25,000 evacuees.
However, amid the evacuations, concerns have grown that some of the refugees did not face imminent danger in Afghanistan or remain a security threat to the US.
Last week, a letter to President Biden signed by 26 GOP senators estimated that more than 57,000 Afghans were evacuated who are not US citizens, green card holders or eligible for the Special Immigrant Visas.
The lawmakers said they were “concerned by reports that ineligible individuals, including Afghans with ties to terrorist organizations or serious, violent criminals, were evacuated alongside innocent refugee families.”