(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Afghans gather in Murray Park for a prayer vigil in honor of Afghan refugees from Utah on Saturday, August 21, 2021.
The US State Department has outlined how immigrants from Afghanistan and Iraq can announce where they want to be sent – and Salt Lake City is one of the possible destinations.
The instructions for the special immigrant visas have three options with which Afghans and Iraqis can “influence” their whereabouts in the US. The first is to choose from a list of 19 areas identified by relocation agencies as “reasonable cost of living, available housing, support services and welcome communities of volunteers and resources”. That list includes Salt Lake City.
Two weeks ago, Governor Spencer Cox sent a letter to President Joe Biden offering Utah as a destination for Afghans, citing the state’s “long history of welcoming refugees from around the world,” adding, “We are endeavoring to continue and support this practice ”. with the resettlement of individuals and families who are fleeing Afghanistan. “
The other cities or areas listed by the State Department are Phoenix; Denver; Jacksonville, Florida; Atlanta; Chicago; Baltimore; St. Louis; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; northern New Jersey, Las Vegas, Buffalo, New York; Cleveland; Portland, Oregon; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Austin, Texas; Dallas-Fort Worth; and Houston.
Refugees can also list a friend or family member who they would like to be relocated close to, but the State Department warns them not to be “aware of the cost of living and the availability of housing”. Refugees are warned that the Washington, DC metropolitan area and some California cities are “very expensive places to live” and that resettlement services “may not comfortably cover the cost of living in these areas. Unless you have close relatives or friends in those areas who can provide financial support and shelter until you find employment that can make a living, it is best to have a relocation agency select a suitable location for you. “
Because of a “critical” housing shortage in Sacramento, California, the only refugees being relocated there will be those whose spouse, parent, child, or sibling already resides there.
Refugees are also warned that “it may not always be possible” to comply with requests for mediation. And they don’t have to make a specific request – they can allow a relocation agency to choose a location for them based on the information they provide about them and their families.
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