They better offer overtime for the US State Dept people doing the paperwork cause they gonna have a LOT of new paperwork for people wanting to get out before Sept 11’s Biden troop withdrawal deadline….
That these people and their families have to wait years is a disgrace….
Created to support Afghans and Iraqis who came under threat for their work with the United States, the special visa programs have lengthy applications processes that have prolonged the average wait time to three years. And as they wait, Afghan applicants to the program are increasingly vulnerable: The Taliban and other militant groups view them as traitors, putting them in a perilous position as the Taliban expands its influence and as thousands of U.S. troops have withdrawnfrom Afghanistan.
Half a dozen special-visa applicants interviewed by The Washington Post this month said they believe their lives have been put at greater risk due to the processing delays last year. The program, called the Special Immigrant Visa, offers a fast track to U.S. citizenship and benefits such as housing assistance that other immigrants to the United States are not entitled to….
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For many members of the U.S. defense and diplomatic community, protecting Afghans who supported the U.S. mission in Afghanistan is not only a moral imperative but also a national security concern.
Daniel Elkins, a Green Beret who served in Afghanistan and founded Special Operations Association of America, an organization that represents members of the Special Operations community, said he’s hearing from more former interpreters who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan asking for help.
“These interpreters risked their lives and their families’ lives by aiding the U.S. military,” Elkins said. “If we abandon our side of the commitment now, people in the future will be less willing to work with us.”….
Update…
U.S. planning to evacuate thousands of interpreters from Afghanistan
…The plan is to use the Special Immigrant Visa category to process the interpreters once they’re moved to a third country, likely to happen in August.
Some of the interpreters have languished in government bureaucracy for years and are still waiting to receive their visas. The U.S. government has identified a group of these applicants already in the SIV pipeline for lift out of the country.
“That’s what a lot of us have been asking for. So it’s a good thing. But I’m not confident that every single person who helped us and the many others who are threatened by the Taliban are all going to be out of the country in July, or that most of them even want to be out of the country in July,” said Rep. Tom Malinwoski (D-N.J.). “And so the best way to help the great mass of Afghans who are at risk is to help the Afghan government survive this onslaught from the Taliban and I’m not seeing enough movement there.”….
More…
Need to get them out as quickly as possible.
This Afghan “government “ we created won’t last but a few months after we leave .