Boston, Worcester prep for influx of Afghan evacuees
Massachusetts cities have welcome mats at the ready for Afghan refugees, but it’s still unclear how many of the newly evacuated families will ever make it to the Bay State — and when — as the the Biden administration continues to drag its feet.
“There is no complete information about when refugees will be arriving in Massachusetts, where they will be settled or how many families even we are talking about,” said Ivan Espinoza Madrigal, the executive director for Lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston. “It remains uncertain and frankly there should be a lot more transparency about what we’re going to do for Afghan refugee resettlement.”
Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey applied a steady stream of pressure on the feds in a series of tweets and actions beginning last week when she declared on Twitter, “Boston is a welcoming city, and it is our responsibility to stand together and help those fleeing persecution.”
The acting mayor joined mayors around the world in the statement that called on national governments to welcome Afghan refugees.
On Tuesday, she called on the Department of Homeland Security to restore temporary protected status for refugees seeking asylum in America. And on Wednesday she penned a letter to President Biden urging him to “address the unfolding crisis.”
Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, too, has welcomed up to 350 Afghan evacuees to seek refuge in his city and is already working with nonprofits to secure necessary housing and public services, according to a city aide.
Preliminary estimates suggest upwards of 60,000 Afghan evacuees could eventually cross the United States border. More than 20,000 have already made the trek with families being temporarily housed at eight military sites in Virginia,
Wisconsin, New Mexico, New Jersey and Indiana.
It remains unclear how many of the 40,000 evacuees still at bases overseas will be resettled in the U.S. and how many of those will trickle into Massachusetts and other states.
The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department ignored Herald requests for comment on Friday.
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley said this week Bay Staters “must open our doors” to Afghan refugees and pledged her support “to provide resettlement opportunities to as many refugees as possible.”
But Gov. Charlie Baker signaled the Bay State was “ready to assist refugees seeking safety and peace in America” back in mid-August during the height of tensions of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan after occupying the region for nearly two decades.
Some immigrant advocacy groups this week called on Baker to make money available to support refugee resettlement and help them gear up for a potential influx of evacuees.
Espinoza Madrigal called out the Biden administration’s “disorganization” in its “failing” withdrawal from Afghanistan that has led to a refugee crisis because evacuees have not been lent the necessary refugee status by the U.S. government that would entitle them to access housing and benefits.
“This is not a good look for the United States and we should do everything within our power to expedite the process of evacuating and resettling as many Afghan refugees as possible in Massachusetts and states across the country,” he said.