Congress has failed so far to create a path to residency for Afghans who worked alongside US soldiers in America's longest war, pushing into limbo tens of thousands of refugees who fled Taliban control more than two years ago and now live in the United States.

Some lawmakers had hoped to resolve the Afghans' immigration status as part of a year-end government funding package. But that effort failed, punting the issue into the new year, when Republicans will take power in the House.

The result is grave uncertainty for refugees now facing an August deadline for action from Congress before their temporary parole status expires.

Nearly 76,000 Afghans who worked with American soldiers since 2001 as translators, interpreters and partners arrived in the US on military planes after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

The government admitted the refugees on a temporary parole status as part of Operation Allies Welcome, the largest resettlement effort in the country in decades, with the promise of a path to a life in the US for their service.

Mohammad Behzad Hakkak, 30, is among those Afghans waiting for resolution, unable to work or settle down in his new community in Fairfax, Virginia, under his parole status.

Hakkak worked as a partner to the US mission in Afghanistan as a human rights defender in the now-defunct Afghan government.

“We lost everything in Afghanistan” after the Taliban returned to power, he said. “And now, we don't know about our future here.”

For the past year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, backed by veterans organizations and former military officials, has pushed Congress to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would prevent the Afghans from becoming stranded without legal residency status when their two years of humanitarian parole expire in August 2023. It would enable qualified Afghans to apply for US citizenship, as was done for refugees in the past, including those from Cuba, Vietnam and Iraq.