TNJFON staff advocate for the Afghan Adjustment Act and continue supporting asylum-seekers in Nashville

TNJFON Legal Clerk Hashmatullah Azizi, Advocacy and Education Coordinator Hannah Smalley, and intern Meagan Lombardi on a Zoom call with legislative aides for Sen. Bill Hagerty and advocates from Human Rights First, HIAS, and Evacuate Our Allies.

This month TNJFON staff members Hashmatullah Azizi, Hannah Smalley, and Meagan Lombardi joined other advocates in meetings with aides to Senator Bill Hagerty and Senator Marsha Blackburn to push for passage of the Afghan Adjustment Act. 

Introduced on August 9, 2022, the legislation would provide a path to permanent legal residency to Afghans admitted under humanitarian parole. This would keep many Afghans from dealing with the arduous, often traumatizing, process of applying for asylum. Though advocates had hoped to include the AAA as a rider on the continuing resolution Congress passed this September, efforts were ultimately successful. The bill’s sponsors and other allies stress that Congress needs to take urgent action to pass the AAA, so contact your Congresspeople today! 

In our meetings with legislators, Hashmatullah shared his personal experiences as an Afghan evacuee and TNJFON legal clerk. “Sometimes they call me and they are crying. And my heart cries with them, but there is nothing I can do,” he said about Nashville’s Afghans. With widespread misinformation and legal resources stretched thin, Afghan parolees live with daily fear and confusion about their immigration options. Interpreters like Hashmat work tirelessly to support their communities, but a policy change is sorely needed.

Hannah and Meagan focused on the Senators’ platforms, explaining that the Afghan Adjustment Act has implications for issues they care about, like national security, veterans’ health, and faith. “The Afghan parolees… are the same people who risked their lives supporting our fight against the Taliban,” said Hannah. “If we abandon them now, we tell the world we don’t keep our promises.” Meagan also pointed out that, "as senators who define critical components of their platforms by leading as devout Christians, it is up to Senators Hagerty and Blackburn to ensure the safety and security of Afghans in need.”

In the absence of an easier path to legal permanent residency, TNJFON staff attorneys continue to support our Afghan neighbors applying for asylum. This month, we submitted five more asylum applications and had three interviews!

TNJFON staff attorneys Brittany Given and Allen Shao King posing with asylum applications they filed this month.