Two more immigration bills will soon be on the House floor, both addressing the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program \u2013 not the crisis at our own border. It is a bipartisan effort in response to reports that intelligence agencies believe the Afghan government could fall as soon as six months after we formally withdraw from the country, leaving those who aided U.S. military forces \u2013 interpreters, intelligence sources, etc. \u2013 in significant danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, the Honoring Our Promises through Expedition (HOPE) for Afghan SIVs Act (H.R. 3385<\/a>) would allow the Biden Administration to waive the requirement that Afghan SIV applicants to undergo a medical examination while in Afghanistan. Many have cited this requirement, which can cost thousands of dollars, as a serious delay in the process. There is supposedly only one facility in Kabul that conducts all immigrant visa examinations for the entire country, forcing applicants from the outer provinces to travel to Kabul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, the Averting Loss of Life and Injury by Expediting SIVs (ALLIES) Act (H.R. 3985<\/a>) includes several provisions to \u201cstreamline and strengthen\u201d the Afghan SIV program \u2013 their words, not mine. It provides a one-time 8,000-visa increase to the Afghan SIV cap in order to cover all potentially eligible applicants currently in the pipeline, as well as new applicants as they apply. It also troublingly removes the requirement for a \u201ccredible sworn statement\u201d regarding threats an applicant faces for work for or on behalf of the U.S. Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is understandable why the current situation has elicited a sympathetic response from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle: How can we leave these those who helped us hanging? The problem is, as sweeping fraud<\/a> in the parallel Iraqi SIV program makes evident, almost nothing is as it seems in either of those war-torn nations, and proper vetting can take years because even people who appear to be on the same side as you may not, in fact, be who and what they seem. Therefore, the last thing we should be doing on the SIV front is \u201cstreamlining,\u201d which is equivalent to \u201caccelerating\u201d in the immigration world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, consider how the Biden administration is\ncurrently operating when it comes to immigration. Can they be trusted to\nproperly vet, not rubber-stamp every applicant of a risky immigration program?\nTheir actions all across the system say otherwise. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two more immigration bills will soon be on the House floor, both addressing the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program \u2013 not the crisis at our own border. It is a bipartisan effort in response to reports that intelligence agencies believe the Afghan government could fall as soon as six months after we formally withdraw<\/p>\n