WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), along with Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY), Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), and Congressman Michael Waltz (R-FL), wrote U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur M. Jaddou requesting USCIS expedite the processing of a Humanitarian Parole petition from Muhammad Kamran, an Afghan national who spent nearly a decade as an interpreter for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and DAI under the U.S. Agency for International Development. In response to his work for U.S. servicemembers, Mr. Kamran was targeted for assassination by the Taliban and has fled Afghanistan with his family.
“It has come to our attention that Muhammad Kamran, an Afghan national who served as an interpreter for nearly a decade for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, DAI under the U.S. Agency for International Development, and later the United Nations, has recently had a petition to come to the United States on Humanitarian Parole filed on behalf of himself and his family,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers continued, “We ask that these new Humanitarian Parole cases for Mr. Kamran and his family be processed as quickly as possible and given full and fair consideration in light of his invaluable service to the United States.”
A stay of Humanitarian Parole is granted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when there is an urgent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit to allowing an individual to temporarily enter the United States.
Rep. Raskin has previously led inquiries into Mr. Kamran’s refugee case, including bipartisan letters in February 2019 and July 2018 to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeking information on Mr. Kamran’s status. After years of bipartisan requests from Congress, including obtaining Judiciary Committee oversight hearing testimony that DHS would disclose the reasoning for the denial, the discretionary “information relating to the denial of the refugee case” of the Kamran family has never been disclosed. Though former-USCIS Director Lee Cissna did write in response to the initial July 2018 letter, her response failed to adequately address the Members’ initial questions, concerns and requests for basic information on Mr. Kamran’s case. To date, Mr. Kamran and his family have not been able to evacuate to safety in the United States.
The full letter to Director Jaddou can be found here.
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