Hundreds of Afghans denied humanitarian entry into US

By PHILIP MARCELO and AMY TAXIN
Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Federal immigration officials have denied hundreds of Afghans seeking temporary entry into the country for humanitarian reasons. Immigrant advocates say the Biden administration has failed to honor its promise to help Afghans who were left behind after the U.S. military withdrew from the country and the Taliban took control. Since the U.S. withdrawal, federal immigration officials say they’ve received more than 35,000 applications for humanitarian parole, of which they’ve denied about 470 and approved fewer than 150. The little-known provision is reserved for extreme emergencies when the traditional visa process isn’t an option and foreigners need to quickly and briefly enter the country.