A former Marine on World Refugee Day urged Congress to allow Afghans who risked their lives serving as translators for U.S. forces to come to America.
Joe Jenkins, who is a fellow at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs Washington Center, said Monday that the future of the Special Immigrant Visa program is “uncertain,” something that goes against American values and could harm national security in the future.
“To me, I think we can do better than that. I really do. I do not think we can turn our back on our allies like that, especially concerning American interests in the future. How will we hold allies in the future?” Jenkins said during an event hosted by Human Rights First.
Neither the House nor the Senate defense policy bills increase the number of visas available for Afghan translators who worked with U.S. troops, which could leave 6,000 translators unable to come to the U.S., even though they were promised that benefit for their service.
About 10,000 Afghan translators have applied to come to the U.S. after serving as interpreters with American troops and facing threats to themselves and their families at home as a result of their links to the U.S. However, only about 4,000 visas remain to be given out by the government.
The House-passed National Defense Authorization Act extends the program by a year through the end of 2017, but tightens the rules for who is eligible, making it so that only those who have served off-base can apply.
In the House, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who was a Marine Corps infantry veteran, led the charge in the House to loosen the rules to include all Afghans who aided U.S. forces.
The Senate’s bill also does not speak on the visa program. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., introduced a bipartisan amendment with Arizona Sen. John McCain to extend the program and provide 4,000 additional visas. It would also have required the government to provide Congress with its plan for ending the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Program over the next several years, according to a press release.
“Thousands of these brave men and women stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Americans in the field, putting themselves and their families at risk to help our soldiers and diplomats accomplish their mission and return home safely,” Shaheen said in a statement. “I will not stand by while Congress turns its back on these individuals and imperils our ability to secure this kind of support in the future.”
Shaheen’s amendment was never considered, raising objections from both sides of the aisle about a defense policy bill amendment process that didn’t allow votes on many proposals.
Lauren Augustine, a legislative associate at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said at Monday’s event that her organization’s “first and foremost priority” is to work with Congress to extend the program before the end of this fiscal year to avoid a lapse where no visas are available.
The International Refugee Assistance Project criticized the Senate for failing to extend the program to make sure all Afghans who risked their lives to help the U.S. are able to reach safety in America.
“We are extremely disappointed that the Senate has failed to authorize additional visas for our Afghan allies in the National Defense Authorization Act. We urge Congress not to abandon those who risked their lives for our troops,” Betsy Fisher, IRAP’s policy director, said in a statement.
More broadly, veterans used World Refugee Day as an opportunity to call for more open borders for all.
Jenkins said that the Statue of Liberty “doesn’t say build a wall, it says open the golden gates.”
