Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday to allow Christian Afghan refugees to remain in the country.
Raffensperger called for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to pause her recent decision revoking temporary deportation protections of Afghans who fled to the United States, many of whom assisted the U.S. during its 20-year war.
“Afghanistan under the Taliban remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for Christians,” Raffensperger wrote. “Afghan Christians face targeted violence, state-sponsored persecution, and near-certain execution under Taliban interpretations of Sharia law.”
The vast majority of Afghan refugees are Muslims.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
All Afghan refugees, regardless of their faith, could be endangered if they were forced to return after helping the United States, said Hogai Nassery, CEO of the Afghan American Alliance of Georgia.
“I promise you, if you go back and your name is on a hit list, you are in jeopardy,” Nassery said. “These are people’s lives on the line. I appreciate that Secretary Raffensperger even cares. It’s just galling that it’s only the Christians he’s talking about.”
Afganistan’s government is a totalitarian theocracy that prohibits education access for girls over age 12.
Nassery said the Trump administration is reneging on a promise to help families escape Taliban rule after the “debacle” of the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
She estimated over 2,000 Afghan refugees have been allowed into Georgia since the U.S. withdrew.
Raffensperger urged the federal government to wait at least 90 days before revoking the parole status of Afghan Christian refugees, to hear their asylum claims and to consider granting temporary protected status to those refugees.
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