It’s crazy to think that this summer experience is already halfway done! Time flew by, but when I look back on everything that’s happened so far, it makes sense. It’s been a busy five weeks at ETSS filled with meetings, tons of emails and phone calls, donation requests, fundraisers, and lots of learning!

This week, I heavily focused on donation requests once again. Since the beginning of June, the Advancement team has reached out to over 150 business, with at least 15 in-kind donations already secured. With the list of businesses to contact continually growing, we hope to create our most expansive auction this year!

Focusing on the Evening of Promise, I have been researching kites from all around the world. The theme for this year’s EOP is “Fly Higher Against the Wind.” With that, we hope to decorate the event space with a variety of culturally diverse kites from around the world. It’s interesting to see all of the different shapes, patterns, and materials, while also learning about the various kite festivals in different countries.  

One of the most interesting and informative aspects of my week was attending a Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) meeting regarding resettlement and the adjustment of status for Afghan parolees. Through this meeting, I learned about a new placement restriction in Northern Virginia that was issued on June 23, 2022 and set to go through September 30, 2022. This placement restriction applies to all refugees, SIVs and Afghan parolees, making the Northern Virginia area temporarily restricted to spouses, parents, children, and grandparents.

Additionally, I learned about general considerations for Afghan parolees, one-year parole status options, asylum & TPS, SIV processing, TRIG exemptions, and the documentation process. In general, it is imperative to know when parole expires, whether it’s in one or two years. One-year parole status options include Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a request of re-parole, and AOS options, including SIV, asylum, and family-based immigration petitions. In regard to the documentation process, common problems often revolve around Employment Authorization Documents (EAD’s) with either inconsistent information across several documents or pending applications with no sign of progress for several months. There are various ways to go about fixing these problems, including filing an expedite request for a pending EAD, applying for a replacement card for lost or non-delivered EAD’s, and contacting United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) customer service.