A program that provides visas to interpreters who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan has gone from endangered to potentially expanded following House passage of a $738 billion defense policy bill.
If signed into law, the National Defense Authorization Act will provide 4,000 more special immigrant visas, raising the total cap to 22,500, a figure arrived at in a Senate conference report preceding the House vote Wednesday.
Of those 22,500, more than 12,000 Afghan interpreters have already been granted visas since the program began in 2008. Another 9,000 are already having their applications considered.
“We’re happy that there are more visas being authorized. It’s important for Congress to keep the promise it made to people who put their lives at risk,” said Adam Bates, policy counsel for the International Refugee Assistance Project. “The authorization of 4,000 more visas is a good step to ensure there continue to be visas available.”
An interpreter from Iraq, nicknamed Phillip Morris, left, came to America through the special immigrant visa program with help from a soldier, Paul Braun, right, who he worked with in Iraq.
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Advocacy groups for Afghan interpreters feared the program would expire. A similar program for Iraqi interpreters expired in 2014, forcing those translators to go through an alternative refugee program that has a backlog of more than 100,000 people.
Former military interpreters in Iraq and Afghanistan have repeatedly been targeted by anti-U.S. groups following their service.
The 2020 NDAA also includes a requirement for the State Department Inspector General to evaluate the SIV program, and how to reduce delays in interagency processing and security checks.
“There is not enough information about how this program is being run,” Bates said. “It’s a positive step to have more information so Congress can exercise its oversight responsibilities.”
Global News 
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