The Afghan refugees that Trump wants to deport

On Sunday, 60 Minutes told the harrowing story of how Jason Kander (read about him here) used private resources to get 383 refugees out of Afghanistan after the U.S. pulled out of the country.  The focus of the story was on the nephew of Kander's translator, Rahim Rauffi, who had received death threats from the Taliban because he possessed critical documents from his work in payroll for Afghanistan International Bank.

Rahim has access to the list of tens of thousands of Afghans who had worked directly with everybody from the UN to the U.S. Embassy, to any other multi-lateral just trying to build democracy in Afghanistan, everything that the Taliban stood against, and everything that once the Taliban took over, one of their first priorities was to find those people and make an example of them by imprisoning them or killing them.

If you didn't see the segment, I highly recommend watching it. As I commented while it was airing, "if this were a movie script it would be rejected as too wild to be believed." But here's what Kander wants us all to take away from the story:

I want Americans to know that every Afghan that they meet did something heroic to get here. And when you first meet them they might be in a job where you may not think about that. They might be bussing your table. They might be driving your Uber. But these are some of the most industrious and resilient and incredible people that you'll ever meet. And I just would like every American to know that.

What the 60 Minutes story didn't cover was the immigration status of these Afghan refugees. It is most likely that they're covered by humanitarian parole, which has been granted to 133,000 Afghans, but is only valid for two years.  

Donald Trump has promised to end the "outrageous abuse of parole,” meaning that Rahim, his family, and the rest of those rescued by Kander would be at risk of deportation. In case you thought the incoming administration would be sympathetic to Afghan refugees, keep in mind that Vice President-elect J.D. Vance suggested that they might be terrorists. 

I wish 60 Minutes had included this risk of deportation when telling this important story. But when/if you hear about Trump ending humanitarian parole, perhaps Rahim's family will come to mind and we'll remember Kander's words about these heroic, industrious, resilient, and incredible people.