RASC News Agency: U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has formally urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to lift travel restrictions imposed on Afghanistani holders of Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) individuals who once served as critical allies to U.S. military forces and diplomats during the two-decade war in Afghanistan. In a letter dated March 18, Shaheen underscored the plight of these individuals, many of whom remain stranded in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, and Albania, caught in an uncertain limbo due to restrictive U.S. immigration policies. Despite their service alongside American forces, they now face systematic neglect and bureaucratic obstacles that have left them in dire conditions.
According to Shaheen, over 5,752 SIV applicants are currently displaced across these countries. Among them are family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel, further compounding the urgency of the situation. She warned that these individuals are not only high-value targets for Taliban persecution but also suffer from severe deprivation, with little to no access to essential services such as healthcare, psychological support, and emergency humanitarian aid. Shaheen condemned the abandonment of these allies as a fundamental breach of U.S. commitments, calling it a moral and strategic failure that undermines American credibility. She demanded that the State Department take immediate and decisive action to facilitate their safe resettlement in the United States.
Since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s subsequent takeover, Afghanistani nationals who worked with the U.S. government have faced escalating threats, targeted violence, and systemic persecution. Human rights organizations have repeatedly urged Washington to streamline the resettlement process, yet the SIV program remains plagued by bureaucratic delays and logistical challenges. Shaheen’s appeal comes amid intensifying criticism of U.S. immigration policies, particularly regarding Afghanistani refugees, thousands of whom continue to languish in legal uncertainty and geopolitical limbo, awaiting a resolution to their fate.
