Senators warn more visas are urgently needed for Afghans who aided the US in the war

WASHINGTON — Senators from both major political parties are urging congressional leaders to ensure more visas are made available to Afghans who served alongside US forces in America’s longest war before a crucial path to safety in the United States is abruptly closed.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, more than a dozen Republican and Democratic senators said Congress should increase the limit on the number of special immigrant visas the U.S. can process for Afghans. They said another 20,000 are needed before the end of the fiscal year in September.

“This critical program has already saved the lives of thousands of Afghans who served with courage and honor alongside American troops and diplomats in support of the mission in Afghanistan,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire. in the letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DY, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “We must now deliver on our commitment to these individuals and ensure that these qualified candidates can find safety in the United States.”

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also called on Congress last week to raise the visa cap, saying it would allow the U.S. to “meet our obligation to those Afghans who are putting their lives at risk for the United States, to ensure that they do not forget.”

Senators included an increase in the annual limit on visas in a funding bill last year, but it is unclear whether that provision will make it into the final package that lawmakers are aiming to complete before the government’s March 22 funding deadline.

The Special Immigrant Visa Program, or SIV, allows eligible Afghans who have helped Americans despite great personal risk to themselves and their loved ones to apply for entry to America along with their families. Eligible Afghans include interpreters for the U.S. military, as well as individuals who play key roles at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

Although the program has been around since 2009, the number of applicants has surged following the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. With the Taliban back in power, advocates say Afghans the US has helped are often living in hiding and face torture and death if found.

“Congress’s lack of action to meet our obligations not only undermines our national conscience, but also erodes the principles America claims to stand for,” said Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and head of #AfghanEvac, a coalition that supports Afghan resettlement efforts. “It is high time that Congress proves that its integrity is more than just lip service; our Afghan allies deserve nothing less.”

Since the program’s inception, tens of thousands of visas have been issued to eligible Afghans, according to the State Department, with more than 30% of the total applications processed only since the withdrawal. A similar U.S. program exists for Iraqis, but both programs have been criticized by lawmakers and advocates who say things are moving far too slowly, leaving applicants in a dangerous no man’s land.

It is up to Congress to set a limit on the number of visas available under the program. But when that limit was reached, Congress had to periodically go back and increase the number of visas available.

Andrew Sullivan, the advocacy director for No One Left Behind, which advocates for SIV applicants, said there are only about 7,000 visas left and that if the State Department continues to approve visas at the current pace, they may run out of visas to sit. end of summer.

“It’s huge. It fundamentally amounts to a death knell for the program” if Congress does not approve more visas, Sullivan said. “There will be tens of thousands of people left behind through no fault of their own.”

Advocates have previously complained about the slow pace of visa processing, but numbers have risen in recent months and could reach 1,000 this month after the State Department streamlined the process for reviewing applications. The improvements have resulted in Afghans helping the US reach safe haven more quickly.

But if lawmakers fail to approve more visas, hundreds of thousands of Afghan allies would remain in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have labeled them and their families traitors. Sullivan said his nonprofit has identified more than 100 people killed by the ruling militant group who were SIV applicants or likely eligible for the visa program.

Failure to approve more visas would be another disappointment for Afghans as they await more concrete action from Congress. A bipartisan effort to offer Afghan allies a permanent path to citizenship failed last month, stymied by wider disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over border policy.

“For two decades, the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan depended on trusted Afghan allies standing shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. troops,” Shaheen, the New Hampshire senator, said in a statement. “We promised to protect them – just as they did before us, but they are now at great risk as the Taliban continue to hunt them.”