Temporary Protected Status, Sonia Norton, Daniel Salazar - The Afghanistan Project Podcast Ep. 152

Welcome to Episode 152 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 at No One Left Behind, and Daniel Salazar, a refugee and protection policy advisor at Global Refuge.We discuss Congressional efforts to restore Temporary Protected Status for our Afghan allies, recent legal decisions that impact processing halts for Afghans, and what both No One Left Behind and Global Refuge are doing as the five-year anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal falls.A correction from Daniel on the status of the Dorcas lawsuit: Most of the policies discussed in the Dorcas lawsuit remain vacated. However, the comprehensive re-review of Afghans and others who entered between 2021 and 2025 is allowed to resume. In an order this month, an appeals court sided with the government's motion for a stay pending appeal with respect to that policy. The remainder of the policies-- including the adjudications pause-- remain no longer in effect under the lower court's ruling.About the guests:Sonia Norton is the Director of Advocacy at No One Left Behind. 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 at Global 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 a civilian 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. Follow Beth: on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwbailey85/ on Twitter: https://x.com/BWBailey85 on Substack: https://substack.com/@bwbailey85 on the web: https://bethwbailey.com/