Support for Visa Programs – Afghans Employed in US News
SUMMARY
The Communications and Media Law Committee and Immigration and Nationality Law Committee wrote to the members of the New York State Congressional Delegation, as well as House and Senate leaders, urging them to create a visa program for Afghans who worked with U.S. news organizations and now seek safety in the United States. “These Afghans – journalists, interpreters, and support staff – worked hand in hand with U.S. news organizations over the last two decades to tell your constituents and everyone around the world what was transpiring in Afghanistan,” the letter reads. The matter is urgent, the letter states, because threats to these peoples’ lives and their families will only increase as the U.S. drawdown continues.
UPDATE
The State Department announced Priority 2 (P-2) designation granting U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) access for certain Afghan nationals and their eligible family members. This includes Afghans who worked as interpreters/translators and those who are or were employed in Afghanistan by a U.S.-based media organization or non-governmental organization. – August 2, 2021
REPORT
July 30, 2021
Via Facsimile and E-Mail
To: Members of the New York State Congressional Delegation
Re: Afghan Journalists, Interpreters, and Support Staff Who Worked with U.S. News Organizations
Dear Members of Congress,
We represent various constituencies of the New York City Bar Association with expertise on diverse issues, including freedom of the press and immigration law and policy. On July 20, 2021, some two dozen U.S. news organizations, trade associations, and non-profits sent a letter to the leadership in the Senate and House.[1] That letter urged that Congress create a visa program for Afghans who worked with the U.S. press and now seek safety in the United States. We urge the members of the New York Congressional Delegation to support this effort; the matter is urgent.
These Afghans – journalists, interpreters, and support staff – worked hand in hand with U.S. news organizations over the last two decades to tell your constituents and everyone around the world what was transpiring in Afghanistan. These foreign nationals are the “interpreters, guides, source finders and occasional lifesavers” for U.S. journalists abroad.[2] They operate often under impossible circumstances. And some have lost their lives, at the hands of the Taliban, in service of the idea that people around the world should know what was happening on the ground. Threats to their lives and their families will only increase as the U.S. drawdown continues.
We understand that the way to bring these Afghans to safety in the United States is through legislation expanding the current Special Immigration Visa program. And we further understand that representatives from the news organization, trade group, and non-profit signatories of the July 20 correspondence continue to advocate for the passage of such legislation. We add our voice to these efforts in the hopes that it will draw further attention to the urgent need to protect these partners abroad.
We thank you in advance for your prompt and thoughtful consideration of this letter.
Respectfully,
Matthew L. Schafer, Chair
Communications & Media Law Committee
Danny Alicea, Chair
Immigration & Nationality Law Committee
Cc:
Hon. John Cornyn
Hon. Jason Crow
Hon. Dick Durbin
Hon. Chuck Grassley
Hon. Jim Jordan
Hon. Adam Kinzinger
Hon. Zoe Lofgren
Hon. Kevin McCarthy
Hon. Tom McClintock
Hon. Mitch McConnell
Hon. Alex Padilla
Hon. Nancy Pelosi
Hon. Jeanne Shaheen
Footnotes
[1] Available at https://www.nytco.com/press/coalition-urges-u-s-to-provide-visas-to-afghans-who-worked-with-press/ (all websites last visited July 29, 2021).
[2] Ayub Nuri, At War, at Home, at Risk, N.Y. Times (July 29, 2007), https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/magazine/29iraqi-t.html.
