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Afghanistan | ||||||
Afghani interpreters who helped U.S. denied visas | ||||||
2013-11-11 | ||||||
KABUL — A growing number of Afghan interpreters who worked alongside American troops are being denied U.S. visas allotted by Congress because the State Department says there is no serious threat against their lives.
“There are tons of Talibs in my village, and they all know that I worked with the Americans,” said one interpreter, Mohammad, who asked that his last name not be published for security reasons. “If I can’t go to the States, my life is over. I swear to God, one day the Taliban will catch me.” Mohammad received a U.S. form letter saying he had failed to establish that there was a “serious threat” against his life. He had explained in his application that the Taliban had spotted him on the job and spread word in his village that he was a wanted man.
In the initial phase of the visa process, “an applicant has to establish that he or she has experienced or is experiencing an ongoing serious threat as a consequence of employment by or on behalf of the U.S. government,” said Robert Hilton, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
Another interpreter who was denied a visa had worked for years at a U.S. military prison, screening visitors. U.S. military officers wrote several letters stating that his job put him in particular danger because of his constant contact with the families of detained militants. But the State Department review board said those concerns didn’t amount to a “serious threat,” the man said.
Several U.S. military officers wrote letters to the State Department about the role Naseri played. “Every house we went into, he went into. Every firefight we went into, he went into,” said Lt. Matt Orr, who worked with Naseri in one of the most dangerous corners of eastern Afghanistan. He said he was baffled when Naseri received his denial. “I feel a real sense of frustration with the bureaucratic mess that would do something like this,” Orr said. Afghan interpreters who work with the U.S. military generally wear masks and assume phony American names to disguise their identities. But they say the Taliban often hears about their association with American forces, particularly if they are from small villages where the insurgency has influence. One former U.S. Marine interpreter named Mustafa was kidnapped and killed outside Kabul in August. His colleagues said he had completed his visa interview several days before his death. A photo of his body circulated on the page of a Facebook group interpreters use to exchange information about their visa applications. Since the program’s inception four years ago, 1,648 interpreters have received the Special Immigrant Visas, or SIVs, out of the 8,750 allocated by Congress. The program has been dogged by delays and other problems. The State Department was criticized this year for temporarily revoking one interpreter’s visa without explanation and for denying other applicants based on vague accusations that they were affiliated with terrorist groups. But the most recent spate of denials could affect a broader range of interpreters. They go to the core reason the program exists — the threat facing Afghan men and women who worked for the U.S. government here.
“I am deeply concerned about recent reports that the threat posed to interpreters by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan are being downplayed or disregarded,” said Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), a veteran of the Afghan war, when asked for reaction. “The current process for approving visas threatens to undermine the commitment we made to stand with them.” “We have to keep our promise to individuals who risked their lives serving alongside our troops. Failing to act puts lives at further risk and hurts our credibility around the globe,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). More than 6,000 Iraqis have received visas through an analogous program over the past five years. Immigration attorneys representing interpreters from both countries say the “serious threat” denials have been issued only to their Afghan clients. “For the past few months, we have been seeing an alarming number of Afghan SIV applicants denied by Embassy Kabul for allegedly ‘not facing a threat,’ ” said Becca Heller, the director of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, which represents both Iraqi and Afghan clients. “These are people being hunted down by Taliban forces because of their work with the United States,” she said. “Many of them have been shot at or kidnapped, and others have hard evidence in the form of death letters and death lists from the Taliban.” Some worry that the United States is denying the visas in order to prevent talented, English-speaking interpreters from leaving Afghanistan. Those men and women would be assets to any long-term American presence in the country, some U.S. officials have said in the past.
Interpreters whose visa applications are being denied say they are puzzled by the standards being used. “What’s a serious ongoing threat for them? Do they need someone to bring in my decapitated head?” said another interpreter, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity for security reasons. “The Taliban posted a letter on our house saying next time I come inside my house, they will kill my whole family. That’s still not good enough?” | ||||||
Posted by:Steve White |
#7 Drones? Do you mean his voters, or the remote control airplane thingeys? |
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2013-11-11 20:25 |
#6 I thought he was talking drones. I never included Obamacare in that threat |
Posted by: Frank G 2013-11-11 19:08 |
#5 "I'm really good at killing people." - Barack HUSSEIN Obama. |
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2013-11-11 18:32 |
#4 ...pretty much. Maybe some of the Afghan vets will sponsor an 'underground railway' as fitting that the Plantation Party is in charge among the Beltway Bureaucracy. |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-11-11 13:08 |
#3 Maybe they can change their names to Lopez & Garcia and sneak in across the Mexican border - then they'd be acceptable, right? |
Posted by: Glenmore 2013-11-11 11:53 |
#2 If everything's so safe and secure, then I guess there's no need for an armed security force at the State Dept's embassy or their residential compounds, eh? |
Posted by: Frank G 2013-11-11 08:16 |
#1 As the vanquished sail away, history treats most collaborators very unkindly. The US State Department and regime are probably not seeking additional pro American types at the moment. Sorry. In 1935, you ran guns to Ethiopia. In 1936, you fought in Spain, on the Loyalist side. Rick: I got well paid for it on both occasions. Captain Renault: The *winning* side would have paid you *much better*. |
Posted by: Besoeker 2013-11-11 06:22 |