A Word from AfghanEvac: The Unfinished Mission

“The shutdown suspends a whole nationality, most of them not even in this country, over a danger the government cannot document. That is not vetting. It is abandonment with paperwork.”

-Shawn VanDiver, President and Founder, AfghanEvac

In a special report, AfghanEvac released "The Unfinished Mission," a full accounting of the Special Immigrant Visa program. The program was a promise to Afghan allies — the interpreters, guards, drivers, cultural advisors, and others who stood alongside U.S. troops and diplomats. In 2006, Congress passed legislation providing special immigrant status to Iraqi and Afghan translators working for the U.S. Armed Forces. The Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 formally established the dedicated Afghan SIV program.

In 2011, the U.S. issued just 31 Afghan SIVs. Average monthly issuance rose from roughly 322 under President Obama to 881 under the first Trump administration and 1,719 under President Biden.

Since the start of this year, the Trump administration has issued zero SIVs to applicants holding Afghan passports. Tens of thousands of people who have been vetted and approved have been left stranded, many of whom who are still in hiding or left in limbo in third countries.

"The fall of Kabul in August 2021 transformed the SIV program from a bureaucratic backwater into a national moral test."

What we can do

Visit https://afghanevac.org/policy to learn about actionable items, including:

• Writing to Congress to support the Afghanistan TPS Act of 2026 (H.R. 9899)

• Supporting the ARCH Act, preserving the record of service for at-risk Afghan allies

• Providing commentary on the asylum interview rule