Supporting Our Afghan Allies: Fulfilling a Twenty-Year Promise
“Taliban militants and terrorists have long targeted our interpreters, including their wives and children. By the time the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan in September 2021, there will be little defense left for these loyal allies…More than 17,000 Afghans who worked with U.S. forces are still waiting for a decision from the U.S. Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program. The process is mired in a maddening bureaucracy. Many have waited for years after going through security checks with practically every U.S. government agency imaginable, often at their own expense for health screenings and other requirements. The situation has only become more dire of late with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul halting visa applicant interviews because of an escalating COVID-19 outbreak in Afghanistan.”
Florent “Flo” Groberg With Honor Action Advisory Board Member and Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Army Captain
For more than 20 years, Americans fought, bled, and died in Afghanistan during our nation’s longest war. Every step of the way, brave Afghans stood shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. forces, risking their safety to provide our military with critical support. When Kabul fell in August 2021, tens of thousands of Afghans were evacuated to the United States and admitted under temporary protected status, a designation that protects them from deportation but does not include a path to permanent residency or U.S. citizenship.
Recognizing that our wartime allies in Afghanistan could face this exact issue, With Honor Action began advocating for reforms to the deeply flawed Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) process months in advance of America’s withdrawal. In the spring of 2021, With Honor Action also convened with dozens of veteran service organizations and humanitarian organizations to advocate for mass evacuations, reforms to humanitarian parole processing, and continued support for wartime allies stranded in Afghanistan.
With Honor Action created an advocacy ad for critical legislation to assist Afghan refugees featuring For Country Caucus Co-Chair, Rep. Jason Crow, former For Country Caucus Member, Rep. Peter Meijer, and With Honor Action Advisory Board Member and Medal of Honor recipient, Army Captain Flo Groberg (ret.). Watch the ad here.
Most recently, in an effort led by For Country Caucus Co-Chair, Rep. Jason Crow, and Member, Rep. Brad Wenstrup, key provisions of the Afghan Allies Protection Act passed into law on March 9, 2024, as part of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Bill. These provisions extended the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program through December 31, 2025, and authorized an additional 12,000 SIVs to be approved. These additional visas mark a 31% increase over the previous 38,500 visas, equating to the largest increase in the program’s history, and have the potential to facilitate continued evacuations of over 50,000 Afghan allies and their families to the United States.
With Honor Action also worked with Members of the For Country Caucus to pass several other pieces of bipartisan legislation supporting our Afghan allies, including:
- The Honoring Our Promises through Expedition (HOPE) for Afghan SIVs Act, led by For Country Caucus Co-Chair, Rep. Jason Crow, and Member, Rep. Brad Wenstrup, had key provisions from it pass shortly before the withdrawal from Afghanistan in late July of 2021. These provisions waived a requirement that SIV applicants receive a medical screening in Afghanistan and appropriated $500 million to evacuate Afghan allies ahead of the withdrawal, $600 million to the State Department for refugee and migration assistance, and $25 million to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement for the Special Immigrant Visa program.
- The Averting Loss of Life and Injuring by Expediting SIVs (ALLIES) Act, led by For Country Caucus Co-Chair, Rep. Jason Crow, and former Member, Rep. Peter Meijer, passed in 2021 alongside the HOPE Act and authorized 8,000 Special Immigrant Visas in addition to the previously authorized 26,500.
- The Welcoming Evacuees Coming from Overseas to Mitigate Effects of Displacement (WELCOMED) Act, led by For Country Caucus Member, Rep. Seth Moulton, and founding Co-Chair, Rep. Don Bacon, provided crucial resettlement assistance to Afghan evacuees who were brought in under “humanitarian parole” by expanding benefits traditionally only available to refugees, asylees, and Special Immigrant Visa holders to these individuals.
- The Afghanistan War Commission Act of 2021, led by For Country Caucus Member, Rep. Seth Moulton, and former Member, Rep. Peter Meijer, authorized a non-partisan, independent commission to conduct a comprehensive examination of the War in Afghanistan, to ultimately provide an assessment on lessons to be learned and recommendations for moving forward.
By the end of 2021, $6.4 billion were dedicated to expediting Special Immigrant Visa processes for Afghan translators and interpreters, and to increasing support for resettlement efforts. While these efforts have been extremely positive, there is still work to be done as more than 76,000 Afghans who evacuated to the United States still have no pathway to permanent residency. In the current Congress, With Honor Action is leading on two key pieces of legislation to continue our support for our Afghan allies, including:
- The Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA), led by For Country Caucus Vice-Chair, Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, would put the Afghans already present in the United States on a viable path toward permanent residency and expand eligibility to at-risk groups like the Afghan Female Tactical Platoon. This legislation is modeled after two bipartisan bills, one that passed under the Johnson Administration for Cuban exiles and one that passed under the Ford Administration for Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees.
- The Afghan Allies Protection Act (AAPA), led by For Country Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Jason Crow and Member Rep. Brad Wenstrup, would further address the needs of Afghans abroad. As previously mentioned, several key provisions of this legislation have already passed. The remaining priorities from it include authorizing 20,000 additional Special Immigrant Visas, clarifying authorities for government agencies, and allowing for remote/virtual interviews to help streamline and further expedite the application process.
“Thousands of our brave Afghan allies who served alongside U.S. military forces and in cooperative agreements and grants with U.S.-funded non-governmental organizations are at grave risk after putting their lives in danger for years. Co-sponsored by the bipartisan veterans of the For Country Caucus, the ALLIES Act will help get these brave Afghans and their children to safety and streamline the whole process. It is our responsibility to stand by those who have stood by us. I urge Congress to pass it immediately,”
Dr. Robert Gates 22nd U.S. Secretary of Defense and With Honor Action Advisory Board Member