The United States Is at Risk of Failing Our Afghan Allies

• Publication year: 2022

The United States Is at Risk of Failing Our Afghan Allies

Here's How the Biden Administration Can Prevent That ¹

Mahsa Khanbabai and Parastoo Zahedi ^*

When the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, we left tens of thousands of Afghan allies behind. For many who had worked alongside Americans for the past two decades, Afghanistan has become a death trap. But the United States has the means—and more importantly, an obligation—to help them get out.

Twenty years ago, America helped Afghans build a new reality for themselves, from training a cadre of women judges to supporting the blossoming of girl's schools. Across every aspect of society, those Afghans who were launching their dreams are now hiding in fear as the Taliban go door-to-door, searching for high-value targets.

We personally know many of these targets. As immigration attorneys, we represent hundreds of Afghans whose lives are at risk since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

One of our clients fearlessly advocated for women's rights and education in Afghanistan for over ten years working at The Ministry of Women Affairs, recently renamed by the Taliban as the Ministry of Virtue. She would visit young women hospitalized for terrible domestic violence injuries offering help and a safer future, but now she is in hiding.

Another client worked at the central bank monitoring money flow to ensure it didn't get into the hands of terrorist organizations. His name, picture, and other key biometric data are now in the hands of the very people who he had been working to thwart.

Two teenage daughters had patiently waited for years to be reunited with their parents in the United States while the arcane immigration system processed their papers. They are still waiting for a U.S. embassy to issue their visas.

Each of these individuals faced great obstacles as they tried to evacuate—getting past Taliban checkpoints, violent beatings and gunfire, and dangerously large crowds—but they were turned away at the airport gate.

We are haunted by the pain, fear, and grief we see in our clients and their families as we work on not only their immigration cases, but with help finding them safe houses and possible escape routes.

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The United States has tools in its arsenal to ease the plight of Afghans who desperately need to leave their homeland. We need to use these tools immediately.

As co-chairs of the Afghan Task Force for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, we call on the...