Humanitarian parole: a tale of two crises

• Author: Alexandra Ciullo
• Position: Rising third year J.D. student at Georgetown University Law Center and a 2020 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania
• Pages: 493-518

HUMANITARIAN PAROLE: A TALE OF

TWO CRISES

ALEXANDRA CIULLO*

In 2021 and 2022, massive conflicts erupted in Afghanistan and Ukraine,

prompting two wildly different responses by the United States to the resulting

refugee flows. The United States turned to a temporary immigration status,

humanitarian parole, to welcome both Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.

Through a brand-new government program, Uniting for Ukraine, Americans

everywhere rallied to host Ukrainian refugees who were swiftly granted pa-

role at no cost. Meanwhile, the U.S. government ignored tens of thousands of

Afghan applications for humanitarian parole and collected millions of dol-

lars in fees from them. This Note explores the reasoning behind such trou-

bling disparities. Some can be blamed on the logistical challenges to hosting

an extensive parole program that are present in Afghanistan but not Ukraine.

Two other justifications for Afghans’ dismal access to humanitarian parole

are contemplated: 1) a greater sense of U.S. responsibility for the Russo-

Ukrainian War than the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, and 2) national se-

curity concerns that Afghans, but not Ukrainians, present for the United

States. However, this Note finds that neither of these justifications fully

accounts for the United States’ deliberate failure to protect Afghans while

simultaneously opening its arms to Ukrainians. Instead, this Note argues that

this failure by the United States is fueled by the government’s resistance to

multiculturalism and specifically, nonwhite Muslim immigrants. Ignoring

Afghans’ applications for parole while championing Ukrainians’ reflects the

U.S. government’s fear of Afghanistan’s non-Western culture and desire to

exclude it from the country.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ......................................... 494

I. WHAT IS HUMANITARIAN PAROLE?....................... 495

* Alexandra Ciullo is a rising third year J.D. student at Georgetown University Law Center and a

2020 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. She is President of the Immigration Law Student

Association at Georgetown and a zealous immigrants’ rights advocate. © 2023, Alexandra Ciullo.

493

II. HUMANITARIAN PAROLE FOR AFGHANS FOLLOWING U.S.

WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN IN 2021 ................. 496

A. Humanitarian Parole For Afghan Evacuees ........... 497

B. Humanitarian Parole For Afghans Left Behind. . . . . . . . . 498

C. Humanitarian Parole For Afghans Left Behind: In

Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

III. HUMANITARIAN PAROLE FOR UKRAINIANS FOLLOWING RUSSIAN

INVASION OF UKRAINE IN 2022 ......................... 500

A. Uniting For Ukraine Application Process ............. 501

B. Uniting For Ukraine: In Practice ................... 501

IV. HUMANITARIAN PAROLE FOR AFGHANS VERSUS UKRAINIANS ....... 502

A. Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

B. The Effects Of These Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504

C. Attempting To Explain These Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505

1. USCIS Could not Create a U4U-Type Program in

Afghanistan Due to Logistical, Operational Challenges 505

2. USCIS Established U4U Because the United States

Feels Responsible for Financially Fueling the Conflict

That Created so Many Ukrainian Refugees. It Does Not

Feel This Responsibility for the Refugee Crisis That

Resulted from its Withdrawal from Afghanistan. . . . . 507

3. Since the United States Perceives Afghans as a Greater

National Security Threat Than Ukrainians, USCIS

Decided it Needed to be More Restrained in Granting

Them Humanitarian Parole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

D. The truth behind these differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

INTRODUCTION

In 2021 and 2022, new conflicts erupted in Afghanistan and Ukraine. The

botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 led to the Taliban take-

over, and the following year, Russia invaded Ukraine. Thousands of refugees

fled these conflicts and sought protection in the United States. Luckily, the

United States is seasoned in receiving migrants seeking protection from con-

flict in their home countries; the country has officially received refugees and

494 GEORGETOWN IMMIGRATION LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 37:493