Afghans who supported the U.S. during the country’s 20-year war and remain trapped there could soon lose their chance to escape if the visa programs available for them run out of space. There is sex.
Military.com reports that the State Department’s Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) could expire as early as this summer. Negotiations to add 20,000 more available slots are now just one of several challenges as Congress negotiates how to fund about half of the federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year. .
A bipartisan group of 15 senators, led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D.N.H. He urged lawmakers to honor their commitments to Afghanistan’s allies in the United States.
Our allies in Afghanistan risked their lives to save us when we got lost in red tape.
Passengers board a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III supporting evacuations from Afghanistan at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, August 24, 2021. (Getty Images)
“Following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban occupation, the need to quickly process SIV applications and ensure that all eligible applicants receive visas has never been more urgent. ” wrote the group, which is made up of 10 Democrats and five Republicans.
“There are credible reports that hundreds of Afghans have been killed while waiting for their SIV applications to be processed,” the senators added. “Congress must ensure that visas are available to bring all eligible SIV applicants to the United States, including surviving spouses in cases where Afghan allies have already been killed. .”
Supporters of the SIV program are pushing for 20,000 additional visas to be included in a new government spending bill, accusing House Republicans of being an obstacle, Military.com reports. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has recently “softened his stance on this issue.”
A U.S. soldier holds a placard indicating the gates are closed as hundreds of people gather near an evacuation control checkpoint at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Wali Saboun)
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Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The SIV program was originally created in 2009 as a way to give Afghans who served with the U.S. military the opportunity to resettle in the United States. The program has long suffered from slow processing times, a problem that became even more acute in the final days of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan.
A US Air Force plane takes off from Kabul airport on August 30, 2021. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)
According to the report, the State Department has improved its processes, resulting in approximately 1,000 applications being approved each month. However, this accelerated timeline also raises the possibility that visas could run out later this year, leaving only about 7,000 slots available.
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“It’s clear that we will reach this cap, and any increase would require legislative approval,” a State Department spokesperson said at a news conference last week. “We called on Congress to raise the cap and fulfill our obligation to the Afghans who risked their lives for America so they are not forgotten.”
