According to Seitz, over 85% of the Afghani refugees who were successfully evacuated face tenuous legal situations and are unlikely to attain asylum under current law. Seitz said that this has led to an untenable situation for tens of thousands of Afghans who helped U.S. soldiers and interests during the war.
Seitz said the bill would provide “long overdue certainty to tens of thousands of Afghans who were relocated to the United States during our country’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, while also demonstrating our solidarity with those whose lives continue to hang in the balance.”
“Catholic social teaching upholds the importance of full participation by all who inhabit a society, considering it both a right and a duty,” Seitz said, adding that “to arbitrarily deny that participation is an injustice.”
In August 2021, U.S. forces under the Biden administration withdrew from Afghanistan, after which the Taliban took charge of the country, creating a dangerous environment for anyone who helped American interests in the past.
Additionally, since the Taliban takeover, religious freedom has steadily and dramatically declined in Afghanistan, according to testimony by religious freedom advocates at a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations hearing on Tuesday.
The Afghan Adjustment Act was first introduced last year but died in committee, failing to make it to the floor for a vote.