For some from Afghanistan, seeking asylum is complicated

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By HEATHER ROUSSEAU
The Roanoke Times

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — A year after fleeing Afghanistan and losing everything for the second time in his life, Mohammad Naziry sat in the safety of his Roanoke apartment and discussed what is most important to him.

Atop that short list are his family’s health and well-being.

Next is to be granted asylum, which would give him permanent residence in the United States.
“I want to be valid, so I can really work hard and try to build up a life here,” Naziry said.

“Otherwise, where am I going to be headed, you know, if I don’t have my proper documentation? So that is really important.”

Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, 214 Afghans have come to the Roanoke and New River valleys, according to Commonwealth Catholic Charities, the nonprofit that helps immigrants and refugees settle in Virginia.

Naziry is one of many seeking asylum, a form of protection that allows refugees to remain in the United States rather than be deported back to a country where they fear persecution of themselves or their families. Asylum seekers must apply for protection within one year of arriving in the United States. Many refugees came on Special Immigration Visas or humanitarian parole, which often allow permanent residency in the country.

Naziry, however, did not receive a Special Immigration Visa, though he said he and his family rented out living spaces to American government contractors in the U.S.-backed Afghan government era.

“Since we had our homes rented to the U.S.,” Naziry said, “now we have going through our mind that the Taliban is going to say to us, ‘You work with them. You had your homes rented to them, so we’re not going to spare you. We’re going to cut your throat.'”

Joe Mott, a retired senior executive with the Department of Justice, was a liaison in Afghanistan from 2018 to 2020 and is helping Naziry’s family apply for asylum. Mott volunteers with Episcopal Community Sponsorship, a ministry that joined Commonwealth Catholic Charities newly formed Community Sponsorship program.

Naziry, his wife, their two sons and his mother are here on humanitarian parole, which is granted to people with urgent need to enter the United States.

“They weren’t eligible for SIV because they weren’t employees of the U.S. government or a U.S. government contractor,” Mott said. “In their case, the route to seek asylum is due to the threat of harm if they return to their native country.”

Fleeing the Taliban

As the Taliban gained control of Kabul in 2021, Naziry and his family of five fled their home with an uneaten hot dinner at the table, dirty dishes in the sink and the television still on, showing the news. They filled one suitcase for all of them. They had no idea where to go.

Naziry told his story in English and in Dari, with help from a Commonwealth Catholic Charities translator.

He and his family are Shia Hazara, an ethnic minority in Afghanistan that has long faced discrimination and persecution in the country.

Naziry, 36, recalled the Taliban gaining control of Afghanistan in the late 1990s, when he was a young boy. The Taliban took away and tortured his father and brother for being Hazara, he said.

His father died of those injuries within days of his return. Naziry said his brother’s hands still shake from the torment.

Naziry and his family fled to Pakistan soon after. When they returned to Afghanistan in 2002 after the U.S. and its allies drove the Taliban from power, Naziry started a bridal shop business.

“I was a hard worker. I was well off, and I made good money for myself, a good living,” Naziry said. He shared his wealth with neighbors, for example providing beds for children previously sleeping on floors. “I said, ‘Where’s your pillows? Where’s your blankets?’ And they say, ‘We don’t have that.’ And that made a hole in my heart.”

‘The system is broken’

Mott, the attorney helping Naziry and his family, said their asylum application is supported by the fact that they helped U.S. government contractors, but also by who they are.

“They’re Shia Muslims who are subjected to frequent attacks, especially by ISIS, even within the last couple of months,” Mott said. “Plus, they’re a member of the Hazara minority, which has historically been subjected to discrimination and oppression under the previous Taliban regime.”

The Taliban kidnapping and beating Naziry’s father is an example of what Hazara Shia face, Mott said.

Seeking permanent residency in the United States can be an uncertain path, taking years and possibly ending in rejection, according to Rachel Thompson, an immigration lawyer with Poarch Thompson Law in Salem.

“The system is broken,” Thompson said.

Once an application is submitted, it can take years until an interview with an asylum officer is scheduled with the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Thompson said some clients who filed applications four years ago still have not had interviews.

“It kind of jeopardizes their due process, because as each day passes, evidence is getting old, it’s getting stale.”

People seeking asylum must prove that their lives are in danger — based on race, religion, nationality and membership in a particular social group or political opinion — if they return to their native lands.

“If you have one minor contradiction (in your filing), then your case could be tanked,” Thompson said. “If the application is not filled out correctly, it could get rejected or denied.”

Jennifer Smyrnos, an immigration lawyer with Grace Immigration in Roanoke, said the average wait time can be several years for an asylum interview with her firm. Because of hurdles in applying for asylum, she has advised Afghan families in Roanoke to consider applying for Temporary Protected Status, which allows displaced individuals to remain in the United States for up to 18 months, a time that can be extended.

“The TPS program provides them with the minimum of what they need to begin their lives here in the U.S., such as a work card and a Social Security number,” Smyrnos said.

Afghanistan is one of 15 countries currently designated for Temporary Protective Status by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Smyrnos understands that many families want a permanent home base, but said many of the Afghan families who came to Roanoke last fall will have difficulty meeting the criteria to get approved.

“Even with a country in turmoil such as Afghanistan, that has been subjected to Taliban terror, does not automatically mean that its civilian population will be granted green cards or approvals for asylum status,” she said. “We see this clearly in the immigration courts and the agencies.”

The backlog of immigration cases is nearly 1.5 million and growing, according to the Transactional Research Access Clearinghouse, a data research organization based at Syracuse University that tracks immigration reports. Virginia’s 69,120 pending immigration cases are the sixth-most in the United States, according to the group. That is a nearly seven-fold increase in the past decade.

TRAC Immigration data shows that as of July, more than 1,500 pending cases from the Roanoke Valley are waiting to be heard in Virginia’s immigration court.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., heard multiple concerns about wait times for permanent residence status and citizenship, during a meeting in August with more than 20 local South Asian community members at Baymont Inn, in Salem.

Kaine said that the backlog of immigration cases in the courts is due to the pandemic and restrictions imposed by former President Donald Trump’s administration.

“Everything on the immigration side, and a lot of other things too, kind of backed up during COVID,” Kaine told reporters after meeting citizens. “And then there was a backlog. And then second, look, the Trump administration was not interested in making it easy for people. … Even people who are in the United States who had green cards found that the process of going from green card to citizen slowed down. So I think there was an intentional slowdown effort in the previous administration on everything connected to immigration.”

Smyrnos said that Temporary Protected Status, with its easier access, is a solid option to obtain legal status in the U.S., compared to the lengthy petition process for asylum.

“TPS is envisioned to be a temporary measure,” she said. “But in practice, it acts like a long-term measure because Congress has repeatedly reauthorized TPS programs over the past 20 years.

Until Congress gets it together and provides comprehensive immigration reform, which hasn’t been addressed in over a quarter century, immigration practice today is largely a piecemeal framework of federal regulations, executive actions, agency programs and political whim.”

People like Naziry can only wait as their requests work through the system.

“Right now, it’s a little hard for me. I am new to this county,” Naziry said. “But here is peace. I can work. I can go home. I can be happy with my family. If I can stay here for my future, it’s everything for me.”