Marc from Sacramento FUEL Network accepting Resolution in support of Afghan Adjustment Act on behalf of our Executive Director Zuhal Bahaduri & Former Assemblyman Roger Dickinson with the Sacramento City Council.
The Sacramento City Council adopted a resolution in support of the Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA) on behalf of Executive Director Zuhal Bahaduri and former Sacramento Assemblymember Roger Dickinson.
The City Council voted to support the AAA, which would provide a legal pathway towards permanent residency for Afghan newcomers who were evacuated from Kabul last summer.
Sacramento has been a major receiving destination for Afghans in the last 10 years, becoming home to one of the largest concentrations of Afghan refugees and other migrant newcomers in the nation.
The resolution comes as Sacramento's Board of Supervisors also recently expressed support for the bill, joining other regions across Northern California, including the City of Hayward and the City of Fremont who have all called on Congress to act on the AAA.
Our letter to the Sacramento City Council can be read below.
Our Letter to the Sacramento City Council ready by Councilmember Eric Guerra:
The 5ive Pillars Organization is an Afghan-American led organization that aids in the resettlement of refugees in Northern California. Since its founding in August 2021 in response to the Kabul evacuation, we have provided support and rapid response aid to over 800 Afghan newcomers.
The US evacuated nearly 76,000 Afghans in August of 2021. The largest evacuation since the Vietnam War. CA has welcomed at least 8,3000 Afghan allies and Sacramento County has the largest Afghan refugee population in the US. Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the city expected more than 5,000 refugees to relocate to Sacramento and its surrounding communities in 2022. Our Afghan allies are here in America and they are building a new home - but they are here on parolee status which is temporary and need a permanent pathway to lawful permanent residence.
We have a solution to this crisis today and it’s called the Afghan Adjustment Act - a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress that would provide a pathway to permanent residence for Afghans. If Congress does not pass the Afghan Adjustment Act thousands of Afghans could lose their ability to work, access health care, and lose their legal right to live here.
This is the moment to stand up for our allies as they stood beside us in Afghanistan -- and show them they are welcomed here by voting yes for this resolution & demanding Congress pass the Bill. This is by far the most important thing you will ever do for our allies , for America.
Thank you.