Welcome to Ep. 89 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal.

Today, my guests are Sonia Norton, Director of Advocacy atNo One Left Behind, and Daniel Salazar, a refugee and protection policy advisor at Global Refuge.

We discuss Temporary Protected Status, and why it was usedfor our Afghan allies in the aftermath of Operation Allies Refuge. We talk about the continuation of a dangerous situation inside Afghanistan for our allies to return to, and what still remains unknown about developments.

About the guests:

Sonia Norton is the Director of Advocacy at No One LeftBehind. Before joining No One Left Behind, she worked in the House of Representatives for five years with members of the House Committees on Armed Services, Judiciary, and Ways and Means. Most recently, she served as the Senior Legislative Assistant for Representative Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), where she led a policy portfolio including Afghan allies, foreign affairs, and judiciary issues. In that role, Sonia was the lead House Democratic staffer for the introduction of the Afghan Adjustment Act and was named one of the Top 10 Policy Staff to Watch. Sonia has also served as a Fulbright-Nehru English Teaching Assistant and was elected for three terms on the Women’s Congressional Staff Association Board.

Daniel Salazar is a refugee and protection policy advisor atGlobal Refuge, the national refugee resettlement agency formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. He does policy and advocacy work on the U.S. refugee admissions program, Afghan and Ukrainian resettlement, and other topics. He has worked on Afghan-related legislation such as the Afghan Adjustment Act, the Afghan SIV program, and CARE authorization since July 2022, first at U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and now at Global Refuge. He is also a coalition member of Evacuate Our Allies and has helped campaigns on Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan and re-parole for Afghans. Before this work, he was a journalist in Kansas and Texas before moving to Washington, DC for his master’s in foreign service at Georgetown University.

About the host:

Beth Bailey worked in support of Afghanistan operations as acivilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner.

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