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September 1, 2021

Mark Hetfield, president of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), a group that resettles refugees, said his organization is preparing for the potential arrival of 50,000 Afghans who will enter as parolees, with a provisional residency status that expires after two years.

Hetfield said Congress needs to prepare a large appropriation to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the State Department and USCIS. “The number we’ve been floating around, just on the back of the napkin, is $5 billion for ORR, $2 billion for State, and $1 billion for USCIS, at a minimum,” he said. “That would give parolees the same amount of assistance as refugees or SIVs would get.”

Hetfield said the short-term funding from the State Department won’t cover many expenses, let alone provide families with essential tools like Internet access and mobile connectivity. “They need things like smartphones,” he said. “Those are not luxuries, they are necessities. You can’t access the job market without access to the Internet.”

https://archive.is/YUzr1

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/afghan-evacuees-resettlement-us/2021/09/01/c68b6a42-0b4e-11ec-a256-709238a1404d_story.html