5 August 2021

New Americans from Afghanistan

James Freeman

Have the parents of the next Sunisa Lee just landed in Virginia? On Thursday this column noted the Olympic gymnastics champion’s distinguished lineage. The children of American allies who fought alongside U.S. troops during the Vietnam War, Ms. Lee’s Hmong parents escaped murderous communists in Laos to find a better life in the United States. Now stalwart friends of American troops from another war are beginning to arrive in the U.S., but many more are still awaiting a rescue and face grave danger.

As for the welcome start to the desperately needed relocations, Alex Horton reports in the Washington Post:

About 200 Afghan interpreters and their families arrived in Virginia on Friday, the first evacuations of thousands imperiled because of their work with the United States in Afghanistan as the Taliban gains control of more territory nationwide.

The flight departed Kabul with Afghans on their first leg of travel to Fort Lee, Va., where they will finish the last rounds of processing over the next several days, Ross Wilson, head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Afghanistan, said Friday. The Afghans will then be resettled across the country.

Thousands more face virtual death sentences as Taliban forces continue to overrun the country while U.S. government bureaucracy prevents the rapid provision of deserved and needed assistance. Mr. Horton adds:

About 20,000 Afghans had applied for the special immigrant visa as of July 15, according to the White House. That number does not include family members; a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to offer an estimate, said the total number of people in the applicant pipeline including family members could be as high as 100,000.

The Post report notes that many of our friends now have to navigate through areas controlled by the Taliban before even getting the chance to persuade U.S. government employees to approve their escapes. Mr. Horton continues:

“The reality is some of these people are going to die. Why didn’t the U.S. military evacuate them when we had the ability?” asked Matt Zeller, a former Army officer and board chair of the advocacy group. He said Biden administration officials ignored his warnings in January to prepare for mass evacuations.

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