#asylees

America has a long, disastrous history of forgetting when it comes to Afghanistan. Abandoning the country to Islamic radicals in the 1990s after its war with the Soviets; deprioritizing our own war after 9/11 so we could pivot to Iraq—this willful forgetting has, again and again, bred disaster. This played out most recently last year, when the collapse of the Afghan government surprised many senior officials in the U.S. government. Today, this pattern of forgetting is poised to repeat. Without congressional action, the tens of thousands of Afghans we evacuated to the United States may be deported in the coming year, and very few in Washington seem to be talking about it. The cost of this apathy will be a second Afghan evacuation, equally disastrous, this time played out in reverse, with our allies shipped back to the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan they fled.

To understand how we arrived at this looming crisis, we have to go back to August 23, 2021, when, during the withdrawal from Kabul, the Biden administration authorized the use of humanitarian parole to temporarily expedite the entry of Afghans into the United States. The preexisting Special Immigrant Visa program—which can take three years from application to approval—had proved impracticably onerous, so humanitarian parole filled the gap and eventually enabled the administration to evacuate approximately 80,000 Afghans to the United States.

ROTTERDAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Schenectady County officials are reacting to the latest wave of asylum seekers in the Capital Region. NEWS10 explains the next steps the county plans to take. Amtrak restores partial service for Adirondack Line Nearly 200 asylum seekers have been moved into the county within the past week. Schenectady county legislators plan to hold a special meeting on Monday, to…

I left FTNRO that morning, and I met my mom for lunch. I chattered away about the people I had just met for about an hour. Mom looked me straight in the eye and said, "You know you've just given away a huge chunk of your heart, right?". I looked right back at her and said, "Yes I do".

Two years later I've gone from a once-a-week volunteer to an almost full-time staff member. I'm also 3/4 of the way finished with a graduate degree in Intercultural Studies. I have completed seven different training courses in immigration law, and our application for recognition and accreditation with the BIA and Department of Justice is pending approval. My husband volunteers. My son participates in the activities. It's a family affair.

This summer I met a woman who is seeking asylum. She fled her country after her daughter was kidnapped in an attempt to scare her into silence against injustice. I spent this summer with that little girl, a second grader, and I've gotten to know her mother. The legal case is pending and there's not much I can do for her right now, but I CAN be her friend. Her daughter is thriving. They both know that we do what we do because of Jesus. This all happened because a friend of theirs drove by our building, decided to stop and ask for help on their behalf, and I was there and trained to help with immigration issues.

Last summer I met a man from Afghanistan. He had worked with the US Army which had endangered his family, and he had been granted an SIV (special immigration visa). He had only been in the US for about four months when I met him. He is educated and incredibly intelligent, but he needed help putting his skills to use in America. He is also still recovering from multiple surgeries to repair injuries he sustained during combat in Afghanistan. He spent the last year working through FTNRO's GED class and working nights at Walmart. At the beginning of this summer Aaron was able to help him get enrolled at Richland College. Now he is working for a security company and is on his way to a degree in mechanical engineering.

Earlier this week I met a man who was the personal translator for the commander of the Resolute Support Mission and United States Forces in Afghanistan (a now-retired 4-star general). He is also in the US on an SIV. He is too educated for our program - he has a degree in English Literature - but he wants to be a teacher. I was able to connect him with an alternative certification program so he can get his teaching certificate. It's the same program Aaron went through, so the two of them will be able to connect as he goes through the process. We promised him we would help him navigate the systems here in the US. He knows he is not alone.

When I left FTNRO two years ago I knew that I had found something special. My heart belongs to the people I serve and the co-workers I am privileged to work alongside. All of us at FTNRO are self-supported. We raise money to pay for our salaries, benefits, and the costs associated with our job. In my case this means I spend a significant amount of money on training and resources. I need your support! One-time donations are wonderful. Monthly donations help keep the work sustainable. If you've been looking for a way to help refugees and asylees this is it! Would you consider partnering with me in this work?

Along with his wife, Zinah, and their two small children — 2-year-old Sidrah and 6-year-old Yousif — Safaa Al Shakarchi crossed the bridge linking Reynosa, Mexico, to McAllen, Texas, on January 14, 2017. Nearly six months had passed since the family was expelled from their adopted home in the United Arab Emirates. Zinah and Safaa had been building a life in the Gulf nation since 2009, when a militia commander in Baghdad shot Zinah and murdered her colleague, prompting her to flee Iraq.

In the months that followed the expulsion, the family’s unwelcome odyssey brought them to six countries, through multiple times zones, and across numerous borders. They endured detention at the hands of Mexican authorities, including officials who beat Safaa as his children watched, and navigated some of the most treacherous cartel-controlled territory in the Western Hemisphere.

Dear friends and colleagues,

I am asking for your help. After a 3-month halt in our ability to enroll refugees and asylees in a critical social services and employment program, we are seeking to enroll clients once again! The specific program that we are emphasizing provides cash assistance to eligible clients (as an alternative to welfare), as well as case management, education assistance, and job placement.  

Please refer without delay any and all of the following:

·       Asylees

·       Arriving derivative asylees

·       Cuban/Haitian Entrants and Parolees

·       Certified Victims of Trafficking

·       Special Immigrant Visa holders from Iraq and Afghanistan

·       Refugees who have moved to NY

We will happily screen all referrals and follow up. We have expanded our presence in the Lower Hudson Valley, so please do not hesitate to refer based on geography. Please let me, Gladys Valverde ([email protected]) or Tea Psorn in the LHV ([email protected]) know if you have anyone to refer. Please provide the following, if available:

1.       Client name

2.       Phone # and/or email

3.       Date of status – Enrollment in some programs is very time sensitive – please refer as soon as possible after the date of status, preferably within 31 days of the status date.

4.       Language

5.       City of residence

6.       Age

We sincerely appreciate your assistance and support!

In community,

Australia’s Piracy on the High Seas

Originally posted on BlakandBlack.com Re-posted with permission

“Many of the asylum seekers facing return to Sri Lanka are likely to have valid protection claims. Historically, 90 percent of Sri Lankan boat arrivals to Australia have been found to be refugees. In 2012-13, during which time the number of boat arrivals from Sri Lanka increased significantly, the Department of Immigration and Border…