AFGHAN HELPERS LEFT BEHIND.

• Author: Harrigan, Fiona
• Position: IMMIGRATION

THE LONG OVERDUE withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan raises urgent questions about the fate of the Afghan interpreters, engineers, and other contractors who assisted U.S. troops during the last two decades: Will we invite them into the country they risked their lives to help, or leave them to the Taliban?

In 2006, Congress established an immigration pathway called the special immigrant visa (SIV) to get these helpers out of harm's way. But even Afghans with the highest commendations may be disqualified thanks to stringent requirements and human errors. Slow processing of the 14-step SIV application has led to an average wait time of three years and a backlog of roughly 18,000 primary applicants with 52,000 dependent family members.

Saberi--first name omitted for his safety--served as an interpreter with a U.S. private contractor for two years doing reconstruction and relief work. He applied for an SIV in 2014 after receiving death threats from the Taliban and other hostile parties. "If I had to stay in Afghanistan, it would put me totally in danger," he says. He diligently collected his application materials, including the required letter of recommendation from his supervisor, a New Zealander.

Years into the application process, Saberi learned that the letter couldn't come from a foreigner, even though they had both worked for the Americans. His supervisor tried to get an American to recommend Saberi but couldn't, despite the good relations Saberi...