Visa program failures leave Afghan allies vulnerable

In April 2021, Marine Corps Maj. Tom Schueman sought support to remove his former interpreter Zainullah Zaki from Afghanistan before the impending U.S. withdrawal. While highlighting their story for the Washington Examiner, I learned of Zaki’s bravery working beside the 3rd Battalion 5th Marine Regiment in the volatile Sangin district and of Schueman’s five-year effort to help Zaki achieve a special immigrant visa. Though their story reached the New York Times, The Rachel Maddow Show, and the Senate, powerful people could not secure Zaki’s escape. Rather, as the chaos of the withdrawal roiled, several of Schueman’s contacts finally guided Zaki and his family to safety at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 18, 2021.