FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 19, 2024

‘Give Us Breathing Room’: Largest-Ever Increase in Special Visas Added to Spending Package by Congressional Leadership

Advocates Urge Approval to Help Forgotten U.S. Allies

 Washington, DC — Punchbowl News today just broke a negotiated package of spending deals that includes 12,000 additional Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) and a reauthorization of the program through 2026, a major win for civic and veteran organizations that are working alongside the Biden administration to resettle Afghans allied with the U.S. before its withdrawal in 2021. 

The #AfghanEvac coalition, which worked with congressional leadership and the Biden administration on the effort to add additional visas, is urging Congress to take immediate action to adopt the bill package and expand the number of SIVs available to Afghans who worked alongside the U.S. military during the Afghanistan War.

“We rang the alarm bells that time is running out to help our allies; the Biden administration and bipartisan members in the House and Senate jumped into action. The solution is here, now Congress needs to pass it,” said Shawn VanDiver, founder of #AfghanEvac. 

VanDiver traveled to Washington, D.C. last Friday to meet with congressional leadership staff and senior members of the Biden Administration to share perspective from the cross-section of American society who make up the AfghanEvac coalition in a push for an agreement that meets the needs of our wartime allies. 

“These visas are essential to enable our wartime allies to receive the opportunity they earned to resettle in the United States, and will ensure the SIV program remains viable,” VanDiver said. “There remains work to be done, including passing the remaining provisions in the Afghan Allies Protection Act (AAPA) of 2023 and the Afghan Adjustment Act, but this is an unequivocal win, if ultimately passed. While this won’t be enough visas to help all our Afghan allies, this gives us some breathing room and will show our partners in America’s longest war that we won’t leave them behind.”

The Biden Administration asked Congress to authorize an additional 20,000 visas in its upcoming appropriations bill. During a press briefing at the White House last week, National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby emphasized the critical need, saying this additional increase requested by the administration “would provide a visa for all individuals with a demonstrated eligibility for the program.  And so we’re going to continue to urge Congress to move forward on that.”

“Even though our war in Afghanistan ended, our commitment to Afghans and our commitment to those who helped us in that war has not ended,” Kirby said in comments to the media. “And we absolutely feel fully committed, and morally so, to do everything we can to get those folks a pathway out of Afghanistan.”

The Afghan SIV program was established by Congress in 2009 to ensure wartime allies have a pathway to safety and a shot at their American dream after serving alongside U.S. forces during our nation’s longest war. Currently, only about 7,000 visas remain of the 38,500 that Congress has previously authorized. But 20,000 Afghans have already qualified for those visas pending the results of their final interviews. 

Efficiencies in the SIV program achieved in part through the State Department’s partnership with #AfghanEvac have increased the pace at which the visas are granted, with roughly 1,000 visas issued each month. But without immediate Congressional action, the remaining visas are expected to run out before the end of summer, potentially stranding thousands of Afghans who have already qualified for this program through their faithful service to the U.S.

This bill is likely the final available legislative vehicle in which these visas could be authorized before the remaining 7,000 available are exhausted in August of 2024. 

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About #AfghanEvac

The non-partisan #AfghanEvac coalition is made up of more than 250 organizations, representing every part of the American experience, working with government to ensure the continued relocation and resettlement of eligible Afghan allies who served alongside the U.S. mission in Afghanistan over twenty years of war.

Website: https://afghanevac.org/press One pager: https://go.afghanevac.org/siv1page

SIV Application and Vetting process: https://afghanevac.org/infographics/#sivvetting