Contact: Louisa Tavlas
WASHINGTON, D.C. May 20, 2022 — Today, the Niskanen Center applauds the Biden administration’s designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Special Student Relief (SSR) for Afghans currently in the U.S. But Congress must do more to protect vulnerable Afghans living in the U.S. and those still stuck abroad.
“TPS and SSR provide much-needed temporary protections for Afghans, and the administration is right to extend these protections. But Afghans in the U.S. deserve a permanent pathway to citizenship, and only Congress can provide that relief,” said Kristie De Peña, Vice President for Policy at the Niskanen Center. She adds, “The House and Senate Judiciary committees should soon mark up an Afghan Adjustment Act to ensure our Afghan allies can become American citizens.” She concluded, “Thousands of Afghans who fled the Taliban are still waiting for their humanitarian parole applications to be processed. The unconscionable delay is nothing short of embarrassing.”
In addition to passing the Afghan Adjustment Act and expediting parole applications, Niskanen encourages the administration to pursue an automatic SSR designation linked to TPS designations, given the nearly identical requirements for each. All students from TPS countries should receive academic flexibility while their home countries are experiencing emergent circumstances.
The Niskanen Center is a 501(c)(3) advocacy organization established in 2014 to change public policy through direct engagement in the policymaking process.
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