The State Department has received more than 80,000 visa applications for Afghans who worked with the U.S. government and others who face retribution from the Taliban, the Washington Post reported.
That’s in addition to the more than 2,000 Afghans who already have arrived in the U.S. and an estimated 10,000 U.S. citizens who include dual nationals or children of Americans who don’t have proper paperwork, wrote Post columnist Josh Rogin.
NBC News reported Aug. 7 that the administration had evacuated less than 1% of the more than 80,000 Afghans who have sought U.S. visas under the Special Immigrant Visa program.
André Mann, a businessman, refugee advocate and church leader who lived and worked in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2011, contends the U.S. has a moral imperative to get the translators and others who worked with the U.S. government out of Afghanistan.
“We promised we would get them out. We promised we would stand by the thousands of Afghan translators and their families as they stood by our troops and American government personnel and contractors for almost 20 years,” he wrote in The Bulwark. “But, now those promises are in grave danger of being broken.”
Mann worked with Afghan interpreters, one of whom saved his life and the life of his family, and he’s currently working to help friends escape the Taliban as Afghanistan collapses.
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., is among the lawmakers who oppose immigration to the U.S. from Afghanistan.
“We spent over a $trillion and thousands of our lives,” he tweeted Monday. “To help them there. In their fight. Not to simply import them here.”
Last month, Gosar announced he is sponsoring a bill that would put a 10-year freeze on all immigration into the United States.
The Arizona Republican contends a pause is needed to help stem the current surge in illegal border crossings.
“We can’t have legal immigration when we have rampant illegal alien invaders. This is a threat to our national security and our economy and to our citizens,” Gosar said in a statement announcing his bill.
U.S. House candidate and Florida Republican state Rep. Anthony Sabatini told Breitbart News that “under no circumstances should America accept a single refugee from Afghanistan due to Biden’s disorderly withdraw.”
He was reacting to the refugee policy enacted by Canada in response to the fear of Taliban reprisals against Afghans.
“We cannot afford to further contribute to the hundreds of thousands of refugees no matter where they come from — South America, Middle East, or Asia,” Sabatini said.
He argued that American families “have already paid the ultimate price over the last 20 years.”
“We sent our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters to the endless wars,” the lawmaker said. “We paid our taxes to finance the wars — we will not be put on the hook for potentially 100,000 refugees,'” he said.
“The uniparty in Washington must be held accountable for their failures, not the American people.”
The federal government annually brings in about 1 million new legal immigrants and about 400,000 temporary workers.
In 2021, the Biden administration already has allowed about 700,000 migrants across the border. That amounts to about one new legal or illegal migrant for every two Americans born during the year.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
