For the past year and a half, the US Congress has been addressing the Special Immigrant Visa programs that enable Iraqi and Afghan wartime allies who come under threat as a result of their service to come to the United States. However, time and again Congress has failed to expand the Afghan SIV program to include Afghans who worked with U.S.-based news outlets.
The following is a 30 May 2014 Blog post by María Salazar-Ferro, coordinator, Impunity Campaign & Journalist Assistance Program.
In the aftermath of this week’s foreign policy speech by President Barack Obama and discussions on the imminent pullout of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, we need to think once again of the implications this retreat will have for the thousands of Afghans who for more than a decade have worked not only with the military, but also with U.S.-based non-governmental and media organizations.
For the past year and a half, Congress has been addressing the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programs that enable Iraqi and Afghan wartime allies who come under threat as a result of their service to come to the United States. However, time and again – and most recently on May 21 – Congress has failed to expand the Afghan SIV program to include Afghans who worked with U.S.-based news outlets. (Iraqi journalists under threat have been afforded some U.S. visas since 2008.)
Read the full blog post on CPJ’s site.
