- Immigration conditions in United States
Many thousands of Afghans, their friends, and their families called anyone they could think of for assistance during the chaos that engulfed the country when the United States withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. Rep. Jerry Nadler’s (D-N.Y.) immigration specialist, Jenna Jaffe, was one of several congressional staffers who answered those frantic calls. She said, “They were in a nightmare.” When she tried to explain that they had permission to enter the country as refugees, a family put her on the phone with a U.S. Marine, but he hung up. “Ma’am, ma’am, please slow down,” he said. All I know is that they told us to search for documents of a specific color. “Goodbye,” Jaffe uttered. As things fell apart, Jaffe and a fellow congressional caseworker assembled a team of Capitol Hill employees who shared fragments of data from the Pentagon and State Department as well as real-time updates from Kabul-based constituents. Nicky Leingang, the director of constituent services for Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), was one of those employees. Over 2,000 people had asked for assistance through Omar’s office. This was partially due to Omar’s well-known refugee past; people had confidence she would provide assistance.
Leingang, however, was another factor. Having assisted numerous constituents with difficult immigration cases over the years, she developed a reputation for being extraordinarily persistent in Minneapolis’s sizable immigrant community. The recurring question is, “Have you called Omar?” according to a local immigration lawyer.
Congressional staff members are not miracle workers and are unable to circumvent immigration laws. Leingang has seen many situations where their options are limited. However, U.S. embassies and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) staff members can almost always receive a faster response than the average person. Few people, perhaps Leingang most notably, have mastered the use of this privilege for constituents enmeshed in a maze of bureaucracy. Sandra Feist, an immigration lawyer in Minneapolis, stated that “many people in constituent services see their job as simply responding to constituents.” “Nicky believes their role is to make sure constituents receive what they are due.”
“It would be kind of wild not to take full advantage just being in a place where you have the power to do that,” Leingang remarked. “This is among the most significant ways we can directly enhance the lives of our constituents.” A wave of constituents and their families were pleading for assistance in leaving Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza when we spoke in December. Only families with ties to Omar’s Minneapolis district are eligible for direct assistance from Leingang, though colleagues in other districts have reported that Leingang frequently assists in setting up cases for them.
The Afghanistan working group, which Jaffe and other staff members formed, brought Leingang’s skills to a wider audience. The workforce grew to over 450 employees. These days, it serves as a constant source of shared knowledge for staff members managing cases of overwhelming complexity as well as for assisting individuals in escaping conflict zones, such as Afghanistan, Sudan, and now the Palestinian territories in Israel. Jaffe thinks that Leingang, more than any other congressional staffer handling immigration cases, has likely traveled further through the bureaucratic maze. A U.S. citizen parent gave birth to a baby in Kabul at nearly the same moment that the first Taliban fighters were breaking through the city limits. The baby could not be issued a passport, according to the State Department.
According to Jaffe, Nicky essentially refused to accept no for an answer for a year. Up until the State Department finally consented to allow Qatar to deliver the passport, even Omar made calls. Being the first elected refugee to Congress, Omar said she prioritizes immigration cases because she is aware of the struggles her own family endured. When she was eight years old, her family and she left Somalia to live in a camp for refugees in Kenya. “I remember clearly how our then-senator really took that on and did everything possible to get his son to the United States from Yemen,” the speaker recalled about her own grandfather. “I wish to step in if I am able to. particularly when it involves bringing someone back together or assisting them in leaving a conflict area. It makes all of us very happy and relieved.
Leingang recently assisted in the Ayoubi family’s reunion. The couple, along with their two kids, were last seen together in August 2021 in the crowds outside Kabul’s airport. Their toddler daughter was carried for two days on the shoulders of Fareed, a longtime transport manager at Bagram Air Base before they boarded a plane to the United States. Sameera, a pregnant journalist, turned back after receiving death threats from the Taliban about her family. After fleeing to Pakistan, where their third child passed away soon after Sameera gave birth, she took refuge with her 6-year-old son at her cousin’s home before moving to Spain.
“It takes resilience to push back against people at the State Department who have very fancy titles and don’t necessarily think civilians are experts and direct services are important,” Jaffe said. However, Jaffe pointed out that there are also achievements, such as the infant born in Kabul during the Taliban’s takeover of the city. Although the family’s journey out of Afghanistan was harrowing and protracted, they are now all safely settled in Minnesota. “One day, he will reach an age where he can comprehend the sheer number of people, the things those people had to endure, and the one thing they refused to do—give up,” Jaffe stated. “It must be worthwhile to be told yes once after being told no a hundred times. It’s enough to have one baby.