Shortly after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban last year, the Journey to Asylum team was contacted by UUSC to join a life saving mission to help several families escape from Afghanistan. Each of these families has a child that was separated from them and made it to the United States alone. UUSC partnered with Vecina, a legal advocacy organization which paired these unaccompanied Afghan minors with pro-bono attorneys to help their families gain entry into the U.S. These families needed sponsors in order for the State Department to consider allowing them into the U.S. The JTA team pulled together an interfaith partnership that includes the Williamsburg Friends meeting, Bruton Parish Episcopal Church, and one of the local LDS congregations to sponsor two of the families.
We then learned that WUU’s Sass-Basedow family was going to foster another unaccompanied Afghan youth. As the Americans left Afghanistan and chaos ensued in Kabul, she had been separated from family at the airport and accidentally put on a plane by herself. She made it to the United States, while her parents and four siblings remained in Kabul. Eventually, she was sent to Virginia under the care of the Sass-Basedow family. After learning about her situation, the JTA team asked Vecina if they could also accept her family’s case. They agreed, and she was assigned a volunteer legal team based in Austin, TX.
In February, as the attorneys prepared applications for humanitarian parole for this family, we learned that the family faced a new risk and had an even more urgent need to escape. In coordination with the lawyers, we advocated to the State Department for assistance. We used a multi-pronged approach, reaching out to State Department contacts of William and Mary, Vecina, and UUSC. We also got in touch with contacts our team has in the international security industry.
Each step has been riddled with anxiety and small miracles. Just when we think there are no more options, something comes through. The State Department agreed to move the family toward the top of their reunification list, but they had to have passports to leave Afghanistan. Only two of the six family members had passports, one of which was due to expire. After much follow up (the squeaky wheel gets the grease), the State Department agreed to have its contractor in Kabul procure an extension on the passport. Then, the oldest son was processed and flown to Qatar for further processing. Two weeks later, we held our breath as the father came out of hiding to board a flight in Kabul. To our great relief, he arrived safely in Qatar.
We are now urgently trying to help the rest of the family escape as they face increased scrutiny and threats of retribution from the Taliban. Until they have passports, there is little that can be done by the State Department. We partnered with a UU congregation in Colorado, which donated funds toward the cost of the passports, and received another generous donation from a friend of JTA. Now the challenge is finding a legitimate passport provider (the family has tried multiple companies unsuccessfully).
At each stage, we are gathering information from organizations on the ground in Afghanistan and are making decisions as a team with the lawyers, Vecina, the Sass-Basedow family, and the family in Afghanistan. This work involves a combination of calculated risk taking and faith in humanity. With any luck, the other four family members will procure passports in the coming weeks and safely make it to Qatar. Once they are approved by the State Department, they will then fly to Virginia to be reunited with their daughter. We will then turn our attention and advocacy to assisting the other families, whose lawyers have been diligently working on their cases.
We are grateful for the incredible partners we have gotten to work with and for the Sass-Basedow family that has generously opened their home as foster parents. The JTA team is proud to extend our advocacy and solidarity to these asylum-seeking families and to participate in this life-saving mission of our UU faith.
To learn more about Journey to Asylum’s work or about how to foster an unaccompanied youth, email us at asylum@wuu.org.