The Biden administration plans to evacuate thousands of Afghans who assisted U.S. troops and personnel, as well as their families, out of the country while they apply for entry into the United States.
The endeavor, which administration officials notified lawmakers about starting on Wednesday, comes amid bipartisan pressure to ensure native Afghan interpreters, drivers, embassy clerks, and other “helpers” are kept safe from the resurgent Taliban once the U.S. withdrawal is complete.
“Those who helped us are not going to be left behind,” President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday.
There are currently 18,000 Afghan helpers awaiting processing, along with 53,000 family members, according to the New York Times. Visas reportedly take around 900 days to process, meaning many applicants will not be finished processing before the Sept. 11 withdrawal date that Biden announced.
“These brave Afghan partners, these Afghan and American heroes, people who we asked to risk their lives not just for Afghanistan, but for America because we had their backs, their future is in your hands,” Rep. Seth Moulton, a former Marine, told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III and Gen. Mark Milley on Wednesday.
BIDEN MUST PLAN TO EVACUATE AFGHAN TRANSLATORS
As of Thursday, it remains unclear how these Afghans will be transported and where they will go while their visas to enter the U.S. are processed.
Reps. Michael Waltz and Jason Crow recently suggested applicants should be sent to the U.S. territory of Guam to be processed. Lawmakers from the bipartisan Honoring Our Promises Working Group spearheaded bills that would cut down on the lengthy application process, such as eschewing the requirement of a “credible sworn statement” that detailed a specific threat.
The withdrawal of all remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is already underway. The Afghan National Army, the U.S.’s ally, has incurred severe losses against the Taliban this year. The Taliban claims they have taken 90 of Afghanistan’s 370 districts since the middle of May, while the United Nations’s envoy puts the number at around 50, according to a CNN report.
Afghan forces have surrendered on several occasions without a fight, leaving U.S. vehicles and equipment in the hands of the Taliban.
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A recent U.S. intelligence community assessment, reported by the Wall Street Journal, said the Afghan government could collapse six months after the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met with members of Congress on Thursday and is scheduled to meet with Biden at the White House on Friday.
