Evacuees revealed by the numbers

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has revealed that out of the 60,000 Afghan nationals evacuated during the withdrawal of troops, approximately 7 percent are US citizens, 6 percent are lawful permanent residents and roughly 3 percent hold Special Immigrant Visas.

The remainder are a combination of SIV applicants whose applications have not been finalized, locally employed staff, journalists, humanrights activists and other vulnerable Afghans who would qualify under refugee status.

The figures, revealed Tuesday during a virtual hearing with the Senate Homeland Security Committee focused on “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland: 20 Years After 9/11,” come the same week as the Biden administration’s move to increase the limit on the number of refugees who can be resettled in the United States.

On Monday, the State Department informed Congress that it will be increasing the limit to 125,000 people for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, up from the 62,500 cap set in May.

Approximately 40,000 Afghan citizens have been brought to the US in recent days, according to The Wall Street Journal, but none have been formally classified as refugees due to the haste with which they were taken out of Afghanistan.

This month, the White House has also asked Congress to make welfare benefits available to Afghan nationals paroled into the nation, as a part of a request for $6.4 billion in funds to help resettle the Afghan evacuees.

Part of the funding would go toward authorizing Afghan evacuees who have been paroled into the US and cleared background checks or screenings to receive welfare benefits and qualify for driver’s licensed or ID cards.

To be eligible, all individuals must have been paroled in the US between July 30 and Sept. 30 of this year.

Since the withdrawal ended last month, thousands of refugees have been transported to US military bases that can collectively house up to 25,000 evacuees. Others will be transported to different states across the country, and at least 200 will be calling New York City their new home, according to Gov. Hochul.