Afghans who aided US military face long, fearful visa wait

The interpreter received death threats from the Taliban for helping American troops, and has now been in hiding for nearly four years.

Amin is one of more than 13,000 Afghans and their immediate family members waiting to get a special immigrant visa for aiding the U.S. mission, according to the U.S. State Department.

Afghan soldiers and police have been suffering heavy casualties in their battle against a resilient Taliban insurgency, while U.S. forces continue to hunt down al-Qaida and Islamic State militants there.

The special visa program started in 2009 to help Afghan translators, cultural advisers and others who have worked for U.S. military or government personnel.

If somebody assisted us in the war over there and saved American lives by running convoys so our troops could be doing their jobs, or whatever, and they now have gotten active threats by known Taliban, why even limit it?

Betsy Fisher, policy director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, wanted Congress to approve an additional 4,000 visas so the process could be expedited for applicants living in danger.

New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, agreed, saying: "It is no exaggeration to say that this is a matter of life and death as Afghans who served the U.S. mission continue to be systematically hunted down by the Taliban."

[...] veterans, like Ball, worry about its future under President-elect Donald Trump, whose national security campaign proposals included a temporary ban on Muslims, the religion of many of the Afghans who helped the U.S. mission.