Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, blindsided by President Trump’s travel ban that includes U.S. allies in Iraq, is submitting to the White House a list of Iraqis who have helped the U.S. military so they can be considered for exemptions to the temporary immigration freeze affecting seven majority-Muslim countries.
Some officials say Mattis was stung by the blistering criticism leveled by former military commanders and lawmakers who said the blanket ban risked the lives of Iraqi interpreters and others who have supported the U.S. military at great personal risk.
“We are in the process of compiling names,” said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
“There are a number of people in Iraq who have worked for us in a partnership role. They are fighting alongside us or working as translators, often doing so at great peril to themselves, and we are ensuring those who have demonstrated their commitment tangibly to fight alongside us and support us that those names are known,” he said.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mattis was displeased with how the ban was implemented, and with the lack of consultation with the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security.
Davis would not confirm that Mattis has requested the exemptions to would allow some Iraqi citizens to be exempted from the ban, saying diplomatically that, “We have been provided an opportunity by the White Hose to submit names, and we are working forward to do that.”
The ban on Iraqi travel to the U.S. was seen as a slap in the face in Baghdad, where the parliament passed a reciprocal ban against Americans traveling to Iraq.
Many U.S. lawmakers pointed out that Iraq is America’s strongest ally in the fight against ISIS, conducting the toughest urban combat and taking heavy casualties in what one U.S. commander called “the hardest door-to-door fighting the world has seen in recent history.”
“At this very moment, American troops are fighting side-by-side with our Iraqi partners to defeat ISIL,” said Sen. John McCain. “But this executive order bans Iraqi pilots from coming to military bases in Arizona to fight our common enemies.”
Rep. Seth Moulton, a former Marine officer who worked to get his interpreter asylum in the U.S., lashed out in an appearance on ABC Sunday.
“You know, I worked for General Mattis. I know him. There is no way in hell that he is supportive of this. He relied on translators for his life, just like I did,” Moulton said.
The Pentagon does not grant visas or have any role in deciding who is admitted into the country, so the expectation is that the White House and State Department will use the list of “good Iraqis,” to grant exceptions to the 90-day travel ban.
