In the News
Houston Chronicle: As family of slain Afghan interpreter arrives in Houston, questions linger about 18,000 civilian partners remaining
Washington,
June 21, 2021
Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-West Houston), who intervened on behalf of Muhammad’s family after Combined Arms brought the issue to her attention, said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services “was very responsive and moved very quickly” after she got involved, and hopes “that we see this kind of quick response for other families as well.”
Khalil Arab remembers the day in 2010 he arrived to his home in Herat, Afghanistan, to hear from a neighbor that Taliban agents had shown up on motorcycles looking for his house. The 24-year-old realized he was being targeted for his work as an interpreter with the United States military. It took nine exhausting years but Arab was finally able to get to Houston, where he lives now, on a Special Immigrant Visa, designed specifically for Afghan citizens employed by the U.S. government. That his application was processed at all, however, makes him one of the lucky ones. Others can drag on even longer, lost in a bureaucratic morass with potentially deadly consequences. Such was the case with Muhammad — as he has come to be known for his family’s safety — an interpreter for the U.S. military who was gunned down by Taliban fighters in January at a checkpoint with his 11-year-old son in the car. His Special Immigrant Visa application had been pending for over 10 years, and he had only found out that his visa received initial approval about a month earlier. Muhammad’s visa application was nullified after his death, leaving his family to face the Taliban alone. They found a note on their door with further death threats, and though Muhammad had already been killed, there was good reason to take them seriously — the Taliban had showed up to a family wedding looking for Muhammad months earlier, and killed three of his relatives in his absence. Muhammad’s wife and six children arrived June 12 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport after being awarded “humanitarian parole,” a seldom-used designation “used to bring someone who is otherwise inadmissible into the United States for a temporary period of time due to an emergency,” according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is not a lawful immigration status and does not allow the recipient to work in the U.S. The family has moved into a home in Gulfton, where many of Houston’s resettled refugees reside. Churches and Muslim groups have donated furniture to the family, and a local group called Connect Community is enrolling the children, who are between 4 and 20 years old, in English classes prior to the 2021-2022 school year. As the U.S. continues to withdraw troops from Afghanistan at an accelerated pace, critics ranging from politicians to veterans have bemoaned the delays in granting visas to the Afghan interpreters who remain under threat from the Taliban for working with occupying forces. “It’s a very, very painfully long, exhausting process. We could do much better, we could do it much faster,” Arab said. “This is a very vital program, because it can save lives of people like myself. Even though it is long and its painful and time-consuming, it’s a very amazing program and I think we should put more resources into it.” Arab, now 35, was locked into a contract with the Italian army when he learned of the threats against his life. He had no choice but to spend the next three months looking over his shoulder until the agreement expired and he could enlist a Polish friend to help him obtain a visa. In 2013, he applied for a Special Immigrant Visa and spent six years waiting in three European countries before it was approved. Now in Houston, Arab works for a private interpretation service and volunteers with Combined Arms, a nonprofit for veterans that coordinated Muhammad’s family’s arrival and settlement in Houston. The family initially planned on settling in Austin, where they had a distant acquaintance, but were persuaded to choose Houston instead due to the city’s strong refugee and immigrant community. Since 2007, 11,790 Afghans have settled in Houston, with more than 90 percent of them being Special Immigrant Visa recipients, according to the South Texas Office of Refugees. Muhammad’s eldest son, who is not being named to protect the family’s safety, said the family was “broken” after the death of their father but that they are glad to be in the U.S. after a very long wait, saying it was “[his] father’s wish.” “I have been in touch with many people from Afghanistan in Houston and Austin. They just tell me that this is a good place and you will be safe and have a good future,” Muhammad’s son said. Still, he worries about a relative in Afghanistan whose visa application was approved, but who can’t move to the U.S. despite active threats from the Taliban. The embassy in Kabul suspended the processing of visas June 13 due to a third wave of COVID-19 sweeping the country. “He’s in trouble, he’s thinking ‘what will happen to me?’” Muhammad’s son said. The situation reflects a broader issue facing the estimated 18,000 interpreters who are still waiting for their applications to be processed. As President Joe Biden finishes withdrawing the last American troops from the country, and the Taliban continues to reclaim region after region, advocates feel a renewed sense of urgency to protect the Afghan citizens who risked their lives to help U.S. troops stationed there. When President Biden announced in April that troops would be out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11, he said it was in part because “the reasons for staying have become increasingly unclear.” His administration has said it will find ways to protect those who worked with U.S. military. One remaining problem is the messy and confusing Special Immigrant Visa process that demands the compilation of numerous documents and letters of recommendation, all of which must be reviewed before the applicant is even allowed to formally apply for the visa. “It’s an extremely rigorous process that takes most people years, with [Muhammad’s] family it took them 10 years to still not get it, and there’s a lot of bureaucracy that ends up creating a lot of errors,” said Cress Clippard, a volunteer with Combined Arms who was involved in getting the family to Houston. Members of the U.S. Congress formed a bipartisan working group in April called “Honoring Our Promises” and wrote a letter to President Biden earlier this month urging him to evacuate the country’s remaining Afghan partners. “The current SIV process will not work. It takes an average of 800+ days, and we plan to withdraw in less than 100 days. While our working group is investigating various process efficiencies and options for expanding the number of SIVs available, it is clear that the process will not be rectified in time to help the 18,000+ applicants who need visas before our withdrawal,” the letter reads. “After examining this situation through multiple hearings, briefings, and our own offices’ research and outreach, our bipartisan working group has concluded that we must evacuate our Afghan friends and allies immediately.” Multiple bipartisan bills expanding the number of SIVs granted and removing application requirements have been introduced in both the House and Senate, but all three remain in committee as of Monday, records show. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-West Houston), who intervened on behalf of Muhammad’s family after Combined Arms brought the issue to her attention, said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services “was very responsive and moved very quickly” after she got involved, and hopes “that we see this kind of quick response for other families as well.” “I would like to see things move more swiftly, there’s a real backlog in the number of applications and a very slow processing time, and that had tragic consequences for this family in particular. These translators have shown incredible courage serving with the members of our military and our partnership with them is crucial to our success abroad, and is vital to our national interest,” Fletcher said. The U.S. Department of State has promised that the interpreters will not be left behind after the last American troops leave Afghanistan, but so far have not offered details on their solution to the backlog of applications. “While U.S. troops will leave by September, the United States will maintain a robust diplomatic presence through the U.S. Embassy, and our teams in the Consular Section in Kabul and in Washington will continue processing qualified SIV applications as expeditiously as possible, as the security and health situation in Kabul allows,” the department said in a statement. “Everyone involved in the Special Immigrant Visa process, whether in Washington or at our embassy in Kabul, is aware of the threats our Afghan colleagues face. We are committed to processing SIV applications as fast as possible while maintaining the necessary security measures and have already taken a number of steps to enhance our capacity to do so,” the department said. For Arab, the interpreter who obtained a Special Immigrant Visa and moved to Houston in 2019, the U.S. withdrawal is worrisome not just for those who worked with the government but for the entire country. “My entire life was spent in war and I firsthand experienced the Taliban regime,” Arab said. “I wish they could stay there until there were grounds for peace. It’s not just going to be dangerous for the SIV recipients but it will be costly for all Afghans, and I wish they could stay until there was a guarantee of a peaceful transfer of power,” Arab said. While the Pentagon removes U.S. forces from Afghanistan, Muhammad’s family will continue trying to settle into their new life in Houston. His oldest son, a mathematics student in Afghanistan, is looking to continue his studies while the other children prepare to enroll in school. Combined Arms will continue to accept donations for the family through an online fundraiser until they can obtain visas which allow them to receive federal refugee assistance. So far, the nonprofit has raised over $10,000 of their $50,000 goal. Read on the Houston Chronicle. |