Letter to Congress: In Support of Our Afghan Allies

In preparation for a recent United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, our friends at #AfghanEvac called for advocates to share their letters of support for Afghan allies and their families. Neighbors for Refugees President Marc J. Morgenstern submitted the following for Congressional record for the Meeting of Senate Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration and Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism.

I am writing on behalf of Neighbors for Refugees (“Neighbors”) – an all-volunteer, not-

for-profit refugee resettlement organization based in Larchmont, NY – to express our

very strong support of efforts to:

• Resume and expedite the reception, placement, and support of vetted Afghan refugees, in fulfillment of promises made to Afghan partners and their families (i.e., SIVs and SIV-eligible refugees) by the U.S. government over many years

• Resume and expedite the reception, placement, and support of vetted, non-SIV-eligible Afghan refugees – especially those whose visas and travel to the U.S. have been approved previously – who are in perilous circumstances in many refugee camps and countries throughout the Middle East, including in Afghanistan and those in jeopardy of being returned to Afghanistan

• Provide Afghan refugees, including asylum seekers, who entered the U.S. legally under Temporary Parole and other statuses, with the processes, rights, support, and resources to obtain asylum, permanent residency, and naturalized citizenship as desired and appropriate and on a timely basis

• Resume all reasonable support previously provided all refugees – e.g., timely processing and renewal of Employment Authorization Documents; access to SNAP, WIC, Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act and other such benefits; and timely consideration of asylum, permanent residency and citizenship applications

• Respect the rights of refugees to due process – free from unreasonable harassment, unwarranted detention, or unjustified deportation.

  
  

• We founded Neighbors in 2016 in response to the Syria crisis. Since that time, we have helped to resettle roughly 100 families in the U.S., predominately in Westchester County, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, New York.  Our services include welcoming new refugee families, renting and setting up apartments, getting children into school and adults into ESL classes, tutoring, assisting in locating jobs, and helping refugee families navigate a new culture and language.  We also provide financial grants to many refugee families to help address their urgent and temporary needs.
  

The families we’ve helped come from nearly 40 countries, with the majority coming from Afghanistan and Ukraine.

Neighbors represents approximately 100 volunteers and nearly 2,000 donors and other constituents who want refugees from all countries to be welcome here and to live in safety and free from fear (both physical and the risk of detention and/or deportation).

Sincerely,

Marc J. Morgenstern