Better in their words…

If something pains me, this is high on the list.
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WSJ 11/13/2016
By Juliana Goldrosen And Ari Hoffman

Qismat, a young Afghan who bravely served as an interpreter alongside American troops in the hills of Tora Bora, spent Veterans Day as a target of ISIS, in mortal danger due to his service to the U.S.

Also on Veterans Day, members of Congress honored the men and women who nobly served our country. What you may not hear in their speeches and news releases, however, is an acknowledgment that, unless Congress acts, it will abandon to their fate more than 10,000 Afghans who worked alongside these veterans, including Qismat.

The Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program, traditionally a popular and bipartisan measure, provides a path for Afghans who worked as interpreters or in other critical positions for U.S. military forces and diplomats to seek refuge in the U.S. Because of their service to our country, these Afghans face extreme persecution and constant danger.

Until this year, Congress has reauthorized the SIV program with little controversy. Yet the current version of the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the usual vehicle for SIV allocation, would authorize no additional visas. That means that once the remaining 2,500 visas are allocated, the 10,000-plus Afghans awaiting visas will be stranded.

Judging by some reports, a handful of legislators opposed an SIV provision in the Defense Authorization bill, stating that they had procedural objections or that they did not want to allocate visas while then-unused visas remained. Yet since these Afghans were screened before their employment on behalf of the U.S., and would undergo another rigorous, months long screening process before qualifying for a visa, there is no excuse, security or otherwise, for blocking this provision.

At the Stanford Law chapter of the International Refugee Assistance Project, we are proud of our many veteran members and classmates, and we stand with them in their efforts to assist their former interpreters immigrate to the U.S. through the SIV program.

Stanford Law student Matt Ball is a former Army Ranger who served during 2010-11 in the Tora Bora region in Eastern Afghanistan, conducting counterinsurgency operations. His unit sustained a disproportionate number of casualties— and one of the wounded was the then-20-year-old Qismat, who served as the unit’s interpreter and main conduit to the Afghan people.

Due to his service to the U.S., he has not been able to return to his hometown for more than six years—especially since ISIS members came looking for him last year. With Mr. Ball’s help, Qismat applied for a visa through the SIV program in 2013, but his application is in limbo due to the program’s extensive backlog.

Another law student, Joe Reed, is a former Marine infantry officer who deployed twice to Helmand province. On his first deployment in 2011, an Afghan interpreter nicknamed Rocky quickly became an integral part of the unit. Rocky lived in primitive conditions with the platoon, made possible all communication between the Marines and local Afghans, and often went on multiple combat patrols a day in proximity to improvised explosive devices and exposed to enemy fire. When Mr. Reed last heard from him, Rocky was still waiting for a visa.

Stanford Graduate School of Business student John Powell also deployed as a Marine infantry officer to Helmand province. His platoon’s interpreter quickly turned into their most important asset. They worked on a grueling schedule, often patrolling five times a day. While Mr. Powell rotated his squads to spread the burden, his interpreter insisted on accompanying every patrol that left the compound.

When Mr. Powell’s platoon went back home, the interpreter (who is not named here for safety reasons) stayed on to work for the next two follow-on Marine units. After the interpreter applied for an SIV, he and his family received death threats from a newly resurgent Taliban in the area. His visa application has been on hold for two years, and he and his family had to flee their home province to escape retribution. Mr. Powell keeps in touch with him, and his pleas for help have become more desperate in the past months.

We call on our leaders in Congress to reauthorize and increase the visa allocation for this critical program. On the line are the lives of Qismat and many other Afghan interpreters and their families.

Ms. Goldrosen and Mr. Hoffman are students at Stanford Law School and members of the Stanford chapter of the International Refugee Assistance Project.