If it passes, the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act will include 4,000 additional Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan interpreters who worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Currently, the program that awards these visas — which was established in 2008 — was capped at 18,500 visas. So far, 12,000 visas have been granted and 9,000 more have submitted applications, according to the Stars and Stripes. If the defense bill passes, the new cap on SIVs for Afghan interpreters will be 22,500.
These 4,000 additional visas were rolled into what the defense bill references as "additional mandatory spending" — $5.7 billion to cover a three-year phased repeal of the Survivor Benefit Plan/Dependence and Indemnity Compensation offset, a new medical malpractice claims process, and these visas.
The 12,000 interpreters who have obtained visas so far through this program did not do so easily.
Lyft and No One Left Behind helps combat translators land jobs
The Special Immigrant Visa allows for former interpreters who offered at least 24-months of service to the U.S. military in combat the chance for a new life in America. Beyond that, the interpreters have to be recommended by U.S. service members and pass what Afghanistan veteran Matt Zeller calls the “gold standard” of background checks.
Matt Zeller had only been in Afghanistan for two weeks when his unit came under a Taliban ambush in April, 2018.
“The next thing I know, I’m on the ground and being shot at,” Zeller tells Connecting Vets. A rocket-propelled grenade had hit the side of his vehicle, ejecting him as bullets and mortars rained down on his position.
“I rolled on my back and saw an old Afghan man wearing old U.S. Army fatigues with ill-fitted body armor,” he says. “Who in the hell are you?” asks Zeller. “I’m Janis,” the man responds. “I’m one of your translators.”
Afghan translator Janis Shinwari saved Zeller's life. After their tour, it took more than four years for Zeller to help Shinwari gain a SIV — and through the process, they learned Shinwari was far from the only interpreter facing challenges.
In 2013, they co-founded No One Left Behind, a nonprofit that helps war-time local interpreters who have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with American service members in combat move with their families to the U.S.
They helped US troops at war. Now he’s on a mission to save their lives.
“When people talk about merit-based immigration, I can’t think of anything with more merit than saving an American’s life in combat, or serving with them in a war effort,” says Zeller. “I don’t know of any other merit that should come before that.”
The Senate is expected to vote on the 2020 defense bill later this week before it moves on to the president's desk.
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