Press Release

 

 

For Immediate Release
Contact: Dan Gordon , 617-651-0841
May 26, 2021

** **

**Momentum, Urgency Grows for Protecting Afghan Allies**

**WASHINGTON, D.C.**- With the Pentagon intending to withdraw troops
fully

from Afghanistan by July, national security experts are urging the Biden
administration to protect our Afghan allies - and bipartisan members
of Congress are taking action.

Today the Council on National Security and Immigration
sent a letter
to President Biden,
calling on the administration to "act with urgency and make plans to
protect the Afghan civilians who risked their lives alongside their
United States ally. It is not only our moral obligation, but a national
security imperative." The council, which comprises national security
leaders who served in Republican administrations and a Republican former
member of Congress, calls on the administration to evacuate Afghan
allies who are eligible for protection in the U.S. as a first step.

Meanwhile, the bipartisan Afghan Allies Protection Act
,
newly reintroduced in the House, would expand and expedite protections
for Afghan nationals who assisted U.S. troops. The bill would make an
additional 4,000 Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) slots available for SIV
holders and eligible applicants from Afghanistan.

Many of these allies and their families receive ongoing threats from the
Taliban for their collaboration with U.S. troops - threats that will
likely intensify amid the troop withdrawal.

Protections for these Afghans and their families have strong support on
both sides of the aisle. Following President Biden's April
announcement of the military withdrawal, bipartisan groups of lawmakers
in both the Senate

and the House

have sent letters calling on the Biden administration to prioritize the
protection of Afghan allies.

"Thousands of Afghans have put their lives on the line by assisting our
troops, and we're encouraged to see lawmakers taking decisive action
to protect them and their families," said

**Ali Noorani, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum**.
"With accelerated plans to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan,
time is of the essence to ensure that vulnerable U.S. allies are safe.
This bill is a critical step, but it will not be enough without action
from President Biden.

"The Biden administration should urgently devise a plan to evacuate
current Afghan SIV applicants, their family members, and any additional
Afghan allies who would be eligible for humanitarian protection in the
U.S. to a safe location while their applications are processed. Those
who risk their lives to protect American values deserve no less."

###

 

 

**Follow Us**

 

[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]

 

 

 

The

**Only in America** podcast brings you to the people behind our
nation's immigration debate.

 

Listen now on:

 

**iTunes**
,
**Stitcher**
,
**Spotify** ,
and **more.**

 

 

National Immigration Forum

50 F Street NW, Suite 300

Washington, DC 20001

www.immigrationforum.org

 

Unsubscribe from Press Releases oropt-out from all
Forum emails.

 

                                               
           
_________________

Sent to [email protected]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

National Immigration Forum, 50 F Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001, United States