The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a spending bill this week that contains 4,000 additional visas for Afghan interpreters, despite the Senate failing to boost the number of visas earlier this month as an amendment to the defense policy bill.
In addition to increasing the number of available visas, the State and Foreign Operations fiscal 2017 spending bill that passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday extends the program to bring Afghan translators to the U.S. for another year.
“If passed, this extension of the SIV program will ensure that Afghans who put their lives on the line to support the U.S. armed forces will be able to seek protection in the United States,” said Scott Cooper, the director of national outreach for Human Rights First. “Continuation of this program represents the best of American ideals and supports America’s great tradition and history of providing protection to the most vulnerable refugees.”
The Special Immigrant Visa program allows Afghan translators, who worked with U.S. troops, to come to America since many are facing threats to themselves and their families for their support of Americans. While 10,000 applications are pending, the State Department has only about 4,000 visas left to give out, meaning the U.S. could abandon 6,000 Afghans after promising them protection.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., had introduced an amendment to the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act that would have increased the number of visas, but it was blocked from consideration by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, this month.
“If Congress fails to extend this program, this could be a death sentence for many Afghans who have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our military and diplomats,” she said. “I’m determined to prevent Congress from betraying our allies.”
In addition to the humanitarian need of helping those who helped U.S. troops, Shaheen, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also said increasing the number of visas plays a strategic role, since locals will be unlikely to help the U.S. in future conflicts if they know the country has abandoned those who aided them in the past.
Without an extension, the program will run out of visas by the end of this year, Shaheen’s office said in a press release.
It is unclear when the full Senate will take up the spending bill.
