WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Peter Meijer (R-MI) today joined his colleagues on the bipartisan Keeping our Promises Working Group in sending a letter calling on the Biden Administration to evacuate the Afghans who have served as partners to the United States during the Iraq War.
Excerpt from the letter:
“Our Afghan friends and allies are at greater risk than ever before. We formed the bipartisan Honoring Our Promises Working Group to prevent the Afghans who served by our side from being killed in the wake of our withdrawal by groups like the Taliban, ISIS, and Al Qaeda. We would like to follow up on our letter of April 21, 2021, in which we sought your commitment to ensure that we honor our promises to them in the final days of this conflict.
“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.
“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. No U.S. entity—to include the Department of Defense, Department of State, USAID, et al.—has the ability or authority to protect them in Afghanistan after our withdrawal. It would be a moral failure to transfer the responsibility to protect our Afghan partners onto the shoulders of the Afghan Government. The time is now to honor our promise and evacuate Afghan SIV applicants.”
Original source can be found here.
