Comment Text:
Dear Commissioners,
I am Atif Javed, the Executive Director of Tarjimly. Tarjimly connects asylees and refugees with
translators and interpreters to help them overcome language barriers that may be preventing them
from accessing needed services. I was inspired to create Tarjimly based on my own experience as
an interpreter for my immigrant and refugee family, and finally decided to quit my job to build
Tarjimly after the travel ban on many Muslim-majority nations was announced. Congressional
control–and elections in general–dramatically affect Tarjimly and myself, and being able to
access risk management tools to hedge that exposure would thus be quite beneficial. The CFTC
should permit exchanges, including Kalshi, to list election contracts that further that goal.
The origin story of Tarjimly speaks to the centrality of federal policy-making to millions of
people’s experiences, all around the world. When the government imposes travel restrictions on
countries, that can spell disaster not just for those seeking to immigrate from those banned
countries, but also thousands of people currently in the United States on student or temporary
visas who might have trouble returning to the US after renewing their visa. While that example
does regard a presidential policy (the travel ban was imposed by President Trump), that does not
negate the truth that Congress plays as well. Congress has the ability to pass comprehensive
immigration reform, and change the rules that affect which people can successfully apply for
asylum. Congress alone has the ability to appropriate money for various services related to
refugee resettlement and integration. For example, consider H.R. 6119 (Further Extending
Government Funding Act) of 2021, which was a bill passed to prevent a government shutdown.
As part of the bill, Congress appropriated extra money to handle the increase of refugees from
Afghanistan.1 Specifically, it allotted an extra “$1.3 billion to provide resettlement and other
support services, such as emergency housing, English language classes, job training, and case
management, for Afghan arrivals and refugees” and “$1.2 billion for the United States
Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund (ERMA) that includes basic need
requirements and resettlement services for at risk Afghans in the United States, including
medical testing, processing, and life support services.”2 As one House Appropriations Committee
summary report states, “without this provision, the Office of Refugee Resettlement would be
unable to appropriately care for minors in the federal government’s custody.”
Even a quick glance at the news headlines show the vast gulf between the two political parties on
issues of refugee and asylum policy. The differences could not be more stark. While it’s true that
predicting precise bills from any Congress is a difficult endeavor, there are frequent government
appropriations bills (such as those to prevent government shutdowns) where the majority party can assert its preferences on issues and reconciliation bills that can be passed on a straight
party-line vote. Due to those bills, the state of refugee resettlement services and other crucial
programs could look very different depending on who wins the election. Someone who provides
contract services to refugees could see their financial health meaningfully harmed by a cut in
those services. Anyone who has family abroad attempting to reach the US, as well, could be
harmed. These are the electoral risks that these families, nonprofits and small businesses face. To
these people, elections are not a game. The CFTC should not treat it as such, and should permit
the ability to purchase risk management tools to mitigate that exposure by legalizing election
event contracts.
1. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6119/text
2. https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/democrats.appropriations.house.gov/files/Further%20Extending%2
0Government%20Funding%20Act%20Summary.pdf
3. https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/democrats.appropriations.house.gov/files/Further%20Extending%2
0Government%20Funding%20Act%20Summary.pdf
