Afghan evacuees still in limbo 2 years after Taliban takeover

CONCORD, Calif. (KGO) -- It has been nearly two years since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan and for those who fled to the US, they are still living in fear.

"The situation is day-by-day in Afghanistan," said Nasrullah Amirzai, one of the nearly 80,000 Afghans who fled from Afghanistan. He and his wife now live in Concord, still worried about family left behind.

"My brothers, my father, they lost their jobs. The only person that supports my family is me," said Amirzai. The computer scientist worked alongside the U.S. in Afghanistan and now works at a Bay Area nonprofit.

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And like the vast majority of those who fled to the US, he's living in limbo, waiting for a green card.

"So we're looking at just these long wait times for people who have come in 2021," said Sarah Cleveland, Managing Attorney, Afghan Legal Services, JFCS East Bay. "The average green card application for an asylum seeker from any country is three to six years."

Advocates are making another for a bill that would put evacuees on a clear path toward permanent residency, called the Afghan Adjustment Act. It failed to get through Congress last year and was just recently reintroduced.

"Some major things we're pushing for the Afghan Adjustment Act...to get around this hopping around different things we've been doing with clients and get a more permanent solution to this issue," said Cleveland, noting people in Afghanistan are getting desperate.

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"We have Afghans coming to the United States now through the southern border largely due to the lack of evacuation flights and the disappointment in the reunification efforts that were promised to their family members back in Afghanistan."

As for Amirzai, he's most concerned about sisters, who under Taliban rule are no longer allowed to go school. "And day by day they lost their hopes," said Amirzai, asking US lawmakers to act.

"The only hope is to do something by the Congress and pass the Afghan Adjustment Act and everyone has the hope they will do something with that bill."

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