[Free Beacon] Retired Gen. David Petraeus said Friday that the United States has a "moral obligation" to provide local translators who have aided the U.S. military abroad a path to the United States."There is an implicit moral obligation to those who share risk," Petraeus, a former CIA director, said at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. on Friday afternoon. "It's very important for the future as well."
Petraeus made the remarks on the Special Immigrant Visa program for local translators in Iraq and Afghanistan who have aided the U.S. military amidst backlash over President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration.
The order, unveiled last week, bars immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States for at least 90 days. It immediately sparked outrage and confusion, particularly over whether it applied to individuals with green cards or special immigrant visas.
The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that translators and interpreters who hold special immigrant visas would be exempt from the ban. The Pentagon welcomed that development on Thursday.