US to give every incoming Afghan evacuee up to $ 2,275 in aid | Business and Economy News

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The Biden administration and more than 200 private agencies are rushing to set up a resettlement system for tens of thousands of Afghans, many of whom have fled their countries with little more than the clothes they were wearing.

The State Department plans to spend up to $ 2,275 for each evacuee as resettlement efforts unfold in communities across the country over the coming months, according to a department official. The money is to be used for accommodation, food, other necessities and the enrollment of children in school.

It is not as usual. Weren’t ready. We’ve never done anything like it, said Chris George, executive director of Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services in New Haven, Connecticut. But were going to prepare. And if it’s not perfect, it’s OK, because it’s an emergency.

The influx will test the ability of the U.S. government and private groups to provide assistance after former President Donald Trump slashes the number of refugees allowed into the United States and places strict limits on who is allowed to. to come. President Joe Biden has promised to rebuild the system.

Up to 50,000 evacuees will arrive under so-called humanitarian parole, an interim program that gives them one year to apply for permanent visas. Other Afghans, including those who worked directly for the US government, will be classified under separate immigration categories.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Friday that the United States admitted about 40,000 evacuees from Afghanistan, including 31,600 special immigrant visa holders, special immigrant visa applicants or other vulnerable Afghan nationals arriving on humanitarian parole.

The State Department is consulting with Congress on the eligibility of Afghans for federal benefits, including Medicaid, the official said. Humanitarian parolees will be eligible for federally funded health insurance until the end of September, according to a relocation director familiar with the matter.

George said he recently hired two realtors to rent apartments in Hartford and New Haven even before his organization received arrival notices, an unprecedented step for a nonprofit that relies on usually on his housing coordinator.

He added that he had also brought in an education coordinator to enroll the children in school and organize private lessons.

Her organization and others plan to recruit volunteers who can help furnish apartments, lead families and even provide spare rooms in their homes.

We were seeing an unprecedented level of private support, but it won’t make a difference, said Mark Hetfield, executive director of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which resettled Afghans in upstate New York.

Large corporations have also pledged, with Airbnb Inc. pledging temporary housing for 20,000 displaced Afghans around the world and Walmart Inc. pledging $ 1 million to aid groups.

To deal with a problem of this magnitude and scope, we’re going to do some things that are going to disrupt the way we’ve done it historically, said Chris Lehane, spokesperson for Airbnb. Used the infrastructure of a technology platform to integrate aid and hopefully free up NGOs and government to get jobs and find permanent housing.

While accommodation and food are the most immediate priorities, newcomers must also find work.

Texas Medical Technology, a medical equipment maker in Houston, announced this week that it has hired five of the 100 Afghans the company plans to hire for a variety of positions, including textiles and engineering, over the next 12 months. .

The demand is there, said Sean Rybar, co-owner of the company. We need workers, so we are with open arms to the refugees.

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