The Associated Students Board of Directors unanimously passed a letter of support for the Afghan Adjustment Act, which is currently being pushed through the U.S. Senate, during its meeting Wednesday in the Student Union Room A1.
The letter was written in collaboration with San Jose State’s Afghan Student Association, which is an organization on campus that aims to provide a cultural safe space and networking opportunity for Afghan students and allies, according to its mission statement.
“I really commend all the student leaders that have really collaborated and utilized our student voice, to make a statement about how they feel about the Afghan Adjustment Act,” A.S. president Nina Chuang said.
If passed, the Afghan Adjustment Act would address the more than 82,000 Afghan nationals who evacuated during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan at the end of December 2021 and now remain in the U.S. in a state legal limbo, according to a December 2021 Department of Homeland Security Afghan Evacuee Report.
The bill would expedite and expand the process for permanent residence and obtaining special immigrant visas, according to a Sept. 22 New York Times article.
Of the more than 82,000 Afghan nationals in the U.S., only 3,500 evacuees are now legal permanent residents, 3,000 of which are receiving special immigrant visas, according to the New York Times article.
The passed letter of support comes five days after U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar initially read and introduced the bill on the Senate floor Friday.
Dominic Treseler, A.S. director of legislative affairs, said change can seem minimal at first and made note of how quickly A.S. was able to give its support to the bill.
“I think it's important for people to understand and to know that activism starts small,” Treseler said. “I'm really excited that we've taken such swift action, in support of a really important cause.”
The letter of support comes after a similar letter, also in support of the Afghan Adjustment Act, was written and submitted to University of California, Berkeley’s A.S. board of directors from its respective Afghan Student Association.
Myenn Rahnoma, SJSU’s Afghan Student Association president, said she was motivated to create something similar after a meeting with UC Berkeley, UC Davis and Sacramento State’s Afghan Student Associations.
Rahnoma said after that she reached out to Luis Aquino, SJSU A.S. director of intercultural affairs, they began drafting the letter together.
**Editor’s note: Rahnoma is a staff writer for the Spartan Daily.
The Afghan Adjustment Act is being reviewed by a senate judiciary committee and if passed, the bill is expected to expand availability for special immigrant visas, according to the bill’s summary.
As of now, special immigrant visas for Afghan nationals are only “generally” available for nationals who were employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government in Afghanistan. The bill would extend access to special immigrant visas for Afghan nationals who are qualifying relatives of a veteran or member of the U.S. Armed Forces.
It mandates that the president establish a task force to develop and implement a strategy to assist Afghan nationals who qualify for admission into the U.S.
The bill also stipulates that the Department of State must respond to inquiries from members of Congress about special applications from Afghan nationals seeking special immigrant or refugee status, as well as establish an office in Afghanistan to do various tasks such as giving visas if no embassies are operational in Afghanistan.
“Talking to student leaders of the Afghan Student Association really resonated with me,” Chuang said. “Their passion to really represent their community and really make a statement, and having them collaborate with Associate Students, really shows their initiative and their drive to to really make change.”
