Afghan female soldiers and others in asylum limbo deserve citizenship

This month marks the second anniversary of our evacuation from Kabul. The images of those final days are still very fresh in our minds, as are the memories of soldiers and Marines who gave their last full measure of devotion in helping to get fellow Americans and Afghan partners out of the country. 

We admitted many of the 82,000 Afghans brought to the United States under a temporary immigration status known as humanitarian parole. This status does not provide a legal pathway toward U.S. citizenship and, until recently extended by the Biden administration, was due to expire this month. This extension was a welcome but wholly insufficient measure. Afghan parolees can apply for temporary protective status (TPS) or asylum, joining the other 2 million pending cases currently being processed by our U.S. immigration system (with an average wait time of 755 days). Our Afghan partners deserve better.

It is time for Congress to finally step up and pass the Afghan Adjustment Act of 2023, which will provide a pathway for these evacuated Afghans to become lawful permanent residents. 

This type of legislation is not new to our nation. Congress passed the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, which allowed fleeing Cubans to become lawful permanent residents. That legislation paved the way for 300,000 Vietnamese and other Southeast Asians to seek refuge in the United States after the Vietnam War. And, during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, Congress created an expedited pathway to citizenship via special immigrant visas for certain Iraqis and Afghans who had served with U.S. forces or other government agencies.

One small group of Afghan evacuees highlights the challenge and heartbreak of our failure to do right by those who stood with us through our long engagement in Afghanistan.

Forty Afghan women from an elite Afghan Special Operations unit, known as the Female Tactical Platoon (FTP), along with over 100 of their family members, were evacuated with the support of an even smaller group of American women. Many of these American women were combat veterans and members of the Cultural Support Team (CST) program created by the U.S. Special Operations Command in 2011. One of us was a CST team leader in Afghanistan who supported the evacuation effort. 

Like their U.S. counterparts, members of the Afghan FTP were hand-selected, highly vetted and specially trained to accompany American and Afghan Special Operations teams conducting high-risk night raids against the Taliban. During these missions, they were critical in searching, questioning and safeguarding women and children. Their efforts often led to capturing Taliban leaders or other significant military targets.

Even before the Taliban returned to power, members of the FTP knew, because of cultural sensitivities, that their gender and participation in combat operations would jeopardize their lives. Regardless, they continued to serve alongside U.S. combat forces, fighting for freedom and democracy, protecting American and Afghan lives, and supporting our nation’s security objectives.

As the Taliban slowly regained territory during the summer of 2021, the situation became dire — several women received death threats, and one was killed just days before Kabul fell.

Recognizing their vulnerability, these U.S. female combat veterans created an all-volunteer organization called Sisters of Service, in partnership with the PenFed Foundation, to leverage their networks to evacuate the FTP members and their families.

Since then, Sisters of Service has worked tirelessly to resettle, assist and empower their Afghan allies across the United States.

Because the FTP were members of the Afghan Special Operations and not employed by the U.S. government, they are not eligible for special immigrant visas and now find themselves in an ambiguous and uncertain status as humanitarian parolees. Meanwhile — family members they left behind continue to move between safe locations to avoid persecution and death at the hands of an increasingly vengeful Taliban. 

The members of the FTP, and their family members, should be taken care of and provided an expedited pathway to citizenship — as should the tens of thousands of other Afghans who linger in limbo in communities around our country.

This past April, the women met with members of Congress. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a longstanding advocate for Afghan women, commented, “These courageous women fought alongside U.S. servicemembers against the Taliban. Now, we must stand with them as they build new lives here in the U.S.” 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), known for his tough stance on immigration, acknowledged that the nation has a responsibility to these women who “fought alongside U.S. Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan, fighting for their freedom and supporting our troops. They are indescribably brave. We owe them a debt of gratitude.”

It is time to make good on this “debt of gratitude” by finding bipartisan support to give these women and their fellow Afghan evacuees legal permanent residence here in the United States. 

While an earlier version of the Afghan Adjustment Act failed last year because influential members of Congress, like Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), concluded that the vetting requirements were not strict enough, it is essential to note that the members of the FTP were among the most heavily screened and vetted forces U.S. service members worked beside. We trusted them to operate alongside some of our most elite special operations units conducting sensitive operations. We never had a reason to question their loyalties or motivations.

It is hard to understand why we are struggling to pass this act. We must not allow the circumstances of our departure from Afghanistan to diminish the service and sacrifice of partners who stood by us nobly and honorably. 

Two years after the tragic events in Kabul,  it is time to pass the bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act of 2023 and give these women, and their fellow Afghans who came to the United States, a clear pathway to permanent residence.  

Jackie Munn is a West Point graduate and former Army captain who deployed to Afghanistan as a CST team leader in 2012.

General (Retired) Joseph L. Votel is the former U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Central Command Commander.