by | Dec 17, 2021 | 2021
We are pleased to announce a grant from the Gilead Foundation in the amount of $100,000 to support Pars Equality Center’s immigration services for Afghan refugees arriving in the US. We would like to express our gratitude to the Gilead Foundation on behalf of Pars Equality Center for their support and trust. Gilead’s commitment to medical innovation, providing access to medicines worldwide, and support of important social causes is exceptional and inspiring, and has a significant impact on underserved communities.
by | Dec 14, 2021 | 2021
Advocates working with Afghans seeking emergency Humanitarian Parole anticipate mass denials after USCIS announces exclusionary practices.
Two hundred twenty-five organizations have signed a letter raising concerns about the fate of thousands of Afghans who remain trapped in Afghanistan, and have applied for humanitarian protections with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The organizations fear mass denials of applications, leaving tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans at risk under deadly Taliban rule. The letter, led by Project ANAR (Afghan Network for Advocacy and Resources), is the second appeal organized by the group to the Biden Administration and members of Congress, and is part of a broader grassroots effort to organize protection for Afghan asylum seekers.
“As legal service providers, advocates, and members of the Afghan diaspora, we seek not only adjudication of Afghan Humanitarian Parole applications, but the favorable use of the wide discretion that USCIS has to grant parole. Instead, USCIS has laid out a plan that will close the door to tens of thousands of Afghans seeking safety in the United States,” the letter notes.
The letter notes USCIS standards that many believe are insurmountable, including:
- Third party evidence naming the applicant and documenting threats or risks of serious harm, a burden of proof that is not normally part of the humanitarian process, and often impossible to fulfill given the realities on the ground in Afghanistan.
2.USCIS has arbitrarily heightened the threat standard required for these applications, in contradiction of their own priorHumanitarian Parole Trainings and Guidelines.
3.Heightened standards produce a potential for mass denials in the absence of alternative pathways. Afghans have turned to Humanitarian Parole because other pathways are inaccessible, backlogged, and insufficient for the urgent needs produced by the Taliban takeover of the country. Advocates havelong urgedspecial programs to address the inaccessibility of existing pathways, yet no such plans have been developed by the US government.
“Advocates are concerned by USCIS Humanitarian Parole denials that rely on insurmountable evidentiary standards, and pull the rug out from under tens of thousands of pending applications with no alternative pathways for relief. USCIS has adopted an exclusionary policy toward Afghans that contradicts its own guidance,” said Laila Ayub for Project ANAR.
A full explanation of these concerns, as well as seven clear recommendations on the issue, are detailed in the Project ANAR letter that you can read here.
by | Nov 30, 2021 | Newsletter
Pars Equality Center continues to provide essential services to help the most vulnerable and underserved refugees and immigrants in Northern and Southern California. Our community depends on Pars Equality Center’s experience and expertise, as well as cultural and language capabilities to obtain financial support, rental assistance, food distribution, immigration relief, and other safety net services. Your donations have helped thousands of individuals and families throughout California keep a roof over their head and food on the table. Your support has paved the way for Immigrants to obtain legal status and a path to U.S. Citizenship. Our nationwide Afghan Support Project and other legal services designed to serve our Persian-speaking communities are all thanks to your continued trust in our well-established capabilities.
#Giving Tuesday is a chance to double your donations and support us in what we know best – serving our community for the past 11 years. We are grateful for your support.
by | Nov 19, 2021 | 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2021
U.S. TO REOPEN REFUGEE APPLICATIONS OF IRANIAN RELIGIOUS MINORITIES MASS DENIED UNDER UNFAIR “EXTREME VETTING”
Groups Applaud Settlement Agreement in Doe v. Mayorkas
(San Jose, CA) – Today, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) and Latham & Watkins LLP announced a settlement in Doe v. Mayorkas, a 2018 class action lawsuit challenging the mass denial of the refugee applications of dozens of Iranians of persecuted minority faiths in the Lautenberg-Specter Program. In February 2018, nearly 90 Iranians who had traveled to Austria to complete processing in the historically successful program received denials of their refugee applications and were left stranded away from their families in the United States as a result of “extreme vetting” techniques connected to the U.S. government’s reliance on controversial mass surveillance methods.
Under the proposed settlement, class members will have their refugee applications reopened and assessed under fair security vetting procedures, and the U.S. government will make best efforts to re-process those applications within three months. The settlement must be approved by the judge before it takes effect.
Plaintiff in the case, Doe 6, said, “I am hopeful that, after many painful years of being stranded in Vienna, the settlement agreement will give us a new chance to be together with our family in the United States. My husband, daughter, and I want to be reunited with my aging parents in the United States. I am their only child and we want to take care of each other and practice our faith together free from discrimination.”
Plaintiff in the case, Doe 7, said, “I sponsored my aunt and her family’s applications to come to the United States and have been waiting over five years for the call to pick them up from the airport in Texas. We have been hurt by this unfair process that left my family stranded in Vienna for so long, and I hope that now our years of forced separation can come to an end.”
During discovery for the case, IRAP learned the FBI has been using a discredited dragnet vetting technique to reject refugees from a list of predominantly Muslim-majority countries, leading to a steep, unfair increase in denials. Plaintiffs believe this technique involved automatically denying refugee applications of any refugee whose communications records matched with those in the government’s vast bulk communications database, even though the database includes records of entirely innocent people caught up in the U.S. government’s mass surveillance capacities.
IRAP Staff Attorney, Kate Meyer, said, “We are thrilled that this settlement will give our clients a meaningful opportunity to reunite with their family members in the United States after years of hardship. This case illustrates the harmful, unfair consequences of ‘extreme vetting’ of refugees and the U.S. government’s use of mass surveillance. The fight to ensure no refugees are denied safety due to discredited dragnet vetting is not over, but today’s settlement is an important step to ensure that our clients’ refugee applications are reevaluated under fair standards.”
Latham & Watkins Partner, Belinda Lee, said, “Not only does this settlement mark a tremendous, hard-fought win for our clients, but it also buttresses a congressionally enacted program that has, quite literally, saved lives. Truly, today’s settlement is a win for the rule of law.”
by | Nov 3, 2021 | 2021
Department of Homeland Security has announced that fully vaccinated non-citizens/non-residents with appropriate documentation will be allowed to enter via port of entries (land and air) as well as ferry terminals beginning November 8, 2021. Please see the fact sheet here.
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