From earlier arrivals to the evacuation: how Afghan Minnesota grew

Afghanistan has lived through more than four decades of war and upheaval: the Soviet invasion in the late nineteen-seventies, the civil war that followed, the first period of Taliban rule, the long U.S.-led military presence, and the Taliban's return to power. Each period pushed people out of the country. Minnesota Department of Health records show a small number of Afghan refugees arriving in Minnesota in the nineteen-eighties and a modest trickle over the next thirty years. Everything changed with the emergency evacuation that followed the Taliban's return.

In the months after the evacuation, Minnesota organized a rapid health response for newly arriving Afghans. A peer-reviewed account of that response counts about 1,260 Afghan evacuees in 386 families arriving in Minnesota in the first five months. DHS reports that Minnesota welcomed 1,363 evacuees during the first year. Arrivals continued afterward. In the most recent Minnesota Refugee Health Report, Afghanistan was the third-largest origin country for newly arriving people with humanitarian immigration statuses, with 603 arrivals, after Somalia and Ukraine. Hennepin County received the largest share, with Afghan families also living in Ramsey, Anoka, Olmsted and other counties.

Afghan Minnesotans arrived through several pathways. Many evacuees entered on humanitarian parole, which is temporary and gave access to only limited initial resettlement services. Special Immigrant Visas are for Afghans who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government or the international security mission. Others came as refugees, asylum seekers, or relatives of people already here. Federal rules for these groups have changed several times, and an individual's status may have changed since arrival.

For DHS work, the practical point is restraint. Most staff do not need to know anyone's immigration status. Where a program's eligibility rules do require it, the eligibility process and the program's written guidance decide what to ask, and immigration legal services, not DHS staff, give advice about status. Keep in mind too that state arrival data count only people whose first U.S. destination was Minnesota. Families who moved here later from another state, or whose status has changed, may not appear in those numbers the way you expect.

Concepts to carry forward

Humanitarian parole

A temporary permission to be in the United States for urgent humanitarian reasons. Many Afghan evacuees first arrived this way; rules and later options have changed over time.

Special Immigrant Visa (SIV)

A visa pathway for Afghans who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government or the international security mission, and their eligible family members.

Dari and Pashto

Afghanistan's two official languages. Dari is a form of Persian; a Dari speaker may or may not understand a Farsi interpreter well.

Primary arrival

In Minnesota refugee data, a person whose first U.S. destination was Minnesota. Counts exclude many people who moved here later.

Starting point, not a verdict

Community context helps you ask better questions. It never tells you what an individual believes, wants or has experienced.

A fictional example to examine

Fictional case: Rahela, a DSD program specialist, is preparing an outreach plan for disability waiver information in Hennepin County. A colleague suggests adding a line to the sign-in sheet asking attendees whether they arrived on parole, a Special Immigrant Visa or as refugees, so the team can tailor materials. Rahela notices the outreach session does not determine eligibility for anything. She wonders whether the question will help anyone, and whether it may keep families away.

Try a situation

What should Rahela do about the proposed status question?

Keep the question but make it optional, since optional questions cannot cause harm.

Drop the question and instead ask attendees which language and interpreter they prefer, directing any eligibility questions to the right intake process.

Replace it with a question about which province people came from, which is less sensitive.

Carry this forward

Afghanistan has lived through more than four decades of war and upheaval: the Soviet invasion in the late nineteen-seventies, the civil war that followed, the first period of Taliban rule, the long U.S.-led military presence, and the Taliban's return to power.
In the months after the evacuation, Minnesota organized a rapid health response for newly arriving Afghans.
Afghan Minnesotans arrived through several pathways.
For DHS work, the practical point is restraint.

Review one outreach or intake document you use this week. For each question that touches immigration or origin, write down the rule or purpose that requires it. Flag any question without a purpose and raise it with your supervisor or the program owner.

From earlier arrivals to the evacuation: how Afghan Minnesota grew

What you’ll be able to do