Lawmakers push to increase visas for Afghan interpreters

The fiscal 2017 defense policy bill provides fewer than half of the visas for Afghan interpreters that the administration asked for, sending advocates and lawmakers back to the drawing board on how to allow the 12,000 who have applied to come to the U.S.

The administration asked for 4,000 visas in fiscal 2017 to bring Afghans who had worked as interpreters for American troops to the U.S. Many are facing threats of death or violence against themselves and their families because of their work with the American military.