With a couple others, I was able to help one interpreter and his family escape (at great risk to themselves and the loss of everything they owned). They are in Colorado now and, because he's a hard-working guy, are doing okay. Many of my friends have similar stories.
He, like Wais' dad, waited three years to have a Special Immigrant Visa processed. It eventually did, after the fall of Afghanistan, after Abdul escaped to Pakistan, and after the help of multiple aid agencies that sprung up at that time to fill a hole our State Department created.
This bill is a small investment into folks who have been vetted through mutual sacrifice.
I've attached my email address. If Wais wants to reach out, Id be happy to help him with either internship or post grad work opportunities. We're a national real estate/GC company and would be happy to see if we can find a great opportunity for him. Your impression of him and assessment of our policy is enough for me to want to offer a helping hand.
It seems that its passage is required to fully accommodate the needs of the Afghan immigrants.
on the part of certain legislators, namely, that intellectual powerhouse Chuck Grassley from Iowa. With the exception of IAND75, most Iowans couldn't find Afghanistan on a map.
Actually, there might be a few Iowans who know where it is. Or even Iowans who have visited the country. The USG has long been troubled by Afghanistan's role in the production chain of heroin and other opioids. It's a supply problem, you see. For years USAID's ag section has attempted to convince Afghan farmers to grow corn instead of poppy. There is no market for corn because it does not feature in the Afghan diet. But so what? Even though we're talking about a choice between starvation and feeding one's family, you should grow corn. You can imagine what success this visionary project has enjoyed. Nation building.
And I agree about the mental giant that represents the state. He should have retired to his farm a long time ago.
I hope that the Ukrainian s aren’t the next to suffer our abandonment.
I'd be surprised if we had much credibility left regarding any sort of long term cooperation or support of a friend in need. A Trump second term won't help.