Press Release
Published on June 4, 2021
WASHINGTON — A broad coalition of 70 humanitarian, 57 faith-based organizations and 15 veteran-led groups used a series of letters to call on the Biden administration to bring the more than 17,000 Afghan allies yet to be processed in the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program to safety in U.S. territory, where they can access to the U.S. immigration system.
“When such a diverse group of organizations comes together with a common message, it affirms how universal that message is,” said Chris Purdy, Director of the Veterans for American Ideals, a project of Human Rights First. “We all agree: we promised our Afghan allies that we would protect them, now it’s time for the United States to deliver on that promise and immediately evacuate our allies. Anything less would be a permanent stain on our nation’s history.”
Veterans for American Ideals and Human Rights First have long advocated for improving and strengthening the U.S. SIV program, and have repeatedly urged the Biden administration to bring our Afghan allies to safety in U.S. territory. In May, Human Rights First called out the Biden administration for its failure to outline a concrete plan to evacuate the SIVs in three separate, hours-long hearings before the Senate Committee on Armed Services, the House Committee on Armed Services, and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Human Rights First also joined partners this week in publishing a letter calling on the governments of NATO member states to urgently protect Afghan locally employed civilians (LECs) who worked with NATO in Afghanistan.
