Two years ago, our soldiers and Marines heroically evacuated tens of thousands of Afghan allies who fought with us against the Taliban. Since then, more than 70,000 at-risk Afghans have been relocated to the United States, where they have been in legal limbo. Despite fleeing from the Taliban, most of our new Afghan neighbors have no direct pathway to lawful permanent residency and stability in the U.S. There is now legislation being considered in Congress that could resolve that.
The American Legion is now calling on Congress to act in the next 36 hours.
The State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations bill authorizes an additional 12,000 Afghan SIVs and extends the time that applicants can apply for the program by one year, until December 31, 2025.
Time continues to march on while these allies are in limbo.
Congress authorized an additional 8,000 SIV visas before the withdrawal and then another 4,000 in December 2022.
The American Legion Resolution No. 16: Recognition for Afghan and Iraqi Combat Translators was passed in 2018, and still is in effect today.
We urge Congress to grant our allies a path to permanent residency!