Michael Cahalane

The Rian Immigrant Center is deeply concerned about the mounting humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and ongoing crises in Haiti. The collapse of the Afghan government has left thousands of individuals at risk of their lives and created a massive refugee crisis. We call upon our government to do more for Afghan and Haitian families. 

Congress created the Special Immigrant Visa program to protect those that worked with U.S forces, and we call for timely adjudication of these applications and a pathway to safety for all Afghans, not just those that assisted U.S forces.  Haiti has been grappling with the assasination of Haitian President Jovanel Moïse, the outbreak of COVID-19, delayed access to vaccines, and a deadly earthquake this past weekend. The earthquake has killed at least 1,900 people, and has displaced thousands of families. Efforts to provide relief have been further complicated due to Tropical Storm Grace. Despite these crises, the United States government has still not restored parole programs for Haitians that were terminated by the previous administration and has continued deportation flights to Haiti.  Our government needs to do more to protect Haitians and to stop returning them to a country in crisis.

Rian serves individuals from over 120 countries, including hundreds from Afghanistan and Haiti. Many of our Haitian & Afghan clients have family and friends residing in these countries. 

Extraordinary delays and bureaucratic barriers in immigration procedures are matters of life and death.

Ultimately, these two crises represent the ongoing failure of U.S foreign and immigration policy. The failed nation building efforts of the United States continue to create massive refugee crises, while our restrictive immigration policies continue to turn people away. If our nation is going to live up to its values, we must recognize the effects of our policies and entirely reexamine our inflexible and unresponsive immigration system, which often works only to exclude.

More immediately, we call on our government to:

• Compel the Departments of Homeland Security and State to obey the law and adjudicate SIV applications within 9 months;
• Implement a plan to evacuate and resettle those in Afghanistan threatened with persecution;
• Restore the Haitian Family Reunification Parole program and the policy of parole of Haitians at ports of entry;
• Further expand eligibility for TPS for Haitians in the United States;
• Order an immediate and indefinite halt on deportations to Haiti;
• Use its authority to grant humanitarian parole and evacuate those in both countries whose lives are threatened by these crises.

Rian will continue to provide support to immigrant refugees and are presently focused on assisting as many Haitian families apply for Temporary Protected Status as we can.  Please contact us at 617-542-7654 for more information.