Special visa program for US-affiliated Afghans faces demise

Source: Reuters

March 6, 2024 1:15 PM EST


WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - A program that resettles in the United States Afghans who worked with the U.S. government could grind to a halt later this year, stranding tens of thousands who are at risk of Taliban retribution following the 2021 U.S. troop pullout from Afghanistan.

The congressionally-authorized limit of 38,500 Special Immigration Visas (SIVs), which offer a path to U.S. citizenship, is expected to be reached sometime around the August anniversary of the withdrawal, and it looks unlikely that the divided U.S. Congress will approve the Biden administration's request for 20,000 more.

"Once we run out of the 8,000 visas that are still out there, we’re done," said a State Department official. That would prevent more than 10,000 applicants and their families cleared for final vetting and interviews outside Afghanistan from beginning new lives in the United States.

Moreover, tens of thousands of other Afghan applications are awaiting processing. A failure to raise the SIV cap would be a “moral tragic travesty and national security failure” on the part of Congress, said Jason Crow, a Democrat and Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and is leading efforts in the House of Representatives to raise the limit.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/special-visa-program-us-affiliated-afghans-faces-demise-2024-03-06/