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The Department of Homeland Security this week announced that it is moving to allow Afghan civil servants who worked during the Taliban regime to be exempted from terror-related restrictions and be allowed entry into the U.S.
The U.S. has been bringing tens of thousands of Afghans to the U.S. since the Taliban takeover and U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last year. As that is ongoing, the Biden administration is moving to exempt certain Afghans who may be caught up in terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds (TRIG).
TRIG places limits on individuals who are members of a terrorist organization or who have engaged in terrorism, making them inadmissible to the U.S. and ineligible for immigration benefits. The USCIS website says that the definition of terrorism-related activity “is relatively broad and may apply to individuals and activities not commonly thought to be associated with terrorism.”
Fox News Digital first reported in both October and April that the Biden administration was considering exemptions for Taliban-era civil servants, as well as others who have fought alongside the U.S. in resistance movements against the Taliban and the Soviet Union.
In a statement issued this week, DHS confirmed that the TRIG exemptions would be available for three exemptions to be applied on a “case-by-case” basis.
The first would be for those employed as civil servants in Afghanistan at any time from Sept. 27, 1996 to Dec. 22, 2001 — after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks — and after August 15, 2021. DHS said that could apply to many occupations including teachers, doctors and engineers — and those who used their position to mitigate Taliban repression.
The agency stressed that it does not include those who held high-level positions in government, or who directly assisted in violent activities by the repressive Islamist regime.
Also potentially exempt are Afghans who “supported U.S. military interests” by fighting in resistance movements against the Taliban, as well as Afghans who took part in the conflict against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. It does not apply to those who targeted civilians or U.S. interests, or who committed terror acts or human rights abuses.
Finally, it exempts “individuals who provided insignificant or certain limited material support to a designated terrorist organization.” DHS gives the examples of paying tolls to pass through checkpoints or paying for utilities or to obtain a passport — given the ubiquitous presence of the Taliban in Afghan life.
DHS said that previous exemptions have been given by multiple administrations, including in 2007, 2014, and 2019 — where the Trump administration exemption applicants who had worked with militias in the Lebanese Civil War.
“Doctors, teachers, engineers, and other Afghans, including those who bravely and loyally supported U.S. forces on the ground in Afghanistan at great risk to their safety, should not be denied humanitarian protection and other immigration benefits due to their inescapable proximity to war or their work as civil servants,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. “These exemptions will allow eligible individuals who pose no national security or public safety risk to receive asylum, refugee status, or other legal immigration status, demonstrating the United States’ continued commitment to our Afghan allies and their family members.”
The administration stressed that all…
Read More: DHS announces terror bar exemptions for Afghan evacuees who worked for Taliban-era civil service