Immigration Law

WILL AMERICA ABANDON THOSE WHO HAVE RISKED THEIR LIVES FOR US?

By Greg Siskind

Simply shameful. Regardless of how the typical America feels about the war in Iraq, most would agree that individuals who have served as translators, medics and in other jobs aiding the US armed forces in the country should be granted safe haven in the US given that they face a ruthless and quick execution if they are left unprotected. And it's not just them - their family members and even their neighbors face death if they are discovered.

Now we learn that despite the fact that Congress and the President passed legislation authorizing 25,000 interpreters and other Iraqis who have aided Coalition forces (12,500 per year for this year and a like number for next year), the State Department won't work a sizable portion of the applications. For this year, 5,000 applicants were authorized and the State Department only managed to process less than 1,000.

One is reminded of other shameful periods in our past when we abandoned people we promised to help. The rapid US departure from Vietnam in 1975 and the abandonment of many people who played a similar helping role in that past war, for example. Or in an earlier period, the deliberate foot-dragging by the State Department in issuing visas to qualified immigrants seeking to flee Nazi persecution in Europe. So many lost their lives in both cases.

As it grows more and more apparent that the US will be exiting Iraq in the not so distant future, the stakes are growing higher. Will the State Department let us down and allow for a massacre to take place? There is still time to address this looming humanitarian disaster. Let us hope that I am not blogging in the future about how many people died because of DOS' failure to carry out its mandate.

Full post as published by Greg Siskind's Blog on July 25, 2008 (boomark / email).