“Iraqi allies were the key to the success of the surge and our counterinsurgency strategy,” said Mike Breen, vice president of the Truman National Security Project and a founding director of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Program. “We must stand by those Iraqis who stood with us, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but also for the sake of our national security and stability in the Middle East.”

RCUSA Advocacy Committee Chairwoman Melanie Nezer noted that heightened security clearances have drastically decreased the number of Iraqis admitted to the United States: in 2009 and 2010, about 18,000 Iraqis were admitted to the U.S. – in 2011, that number was nearly halved, to 9,388. Iraqi refugees now go through at least four security checks before they can be resettled.

In the meantime, Iraqis who helped the American government during the war are in grave danger, experts say, pointing to attempted assassinations, kidnappings, and murders of refugees waiting for security clearances.

The U.S. government has an obligation to expedite the screening processes for Iraqis who assisted American forces. Their service must be acknowledged. IRAP is committed to advocating on their behalf.

Read the full story here.

Emo stands for “emotional hardcore,” and these youths are easily identified by “their tight black clothes, skull printed t-shirts, piercings, and daring hairstyles that signify an ironic punk or hipster aesthetic in the United States.” The emo and the LGBT communities – which are frequently conflated into one – have been facing intensifying persecution and threats from the Iraqi government and militias.

The Iraqi Ministry of the Interior issued a statement on February 13 describing “emo” youths as devil worshippers and granted the Ministry’s Social Police authority to “eliminate” them. While the government recanted this position a month later, this message understandably prompted many youths to shave their identifiable hairstyles and hide at home.

Meanwhile, a Shiite militia in Baghdad targeting the LGBT community distributed a hit list with 33 names and home addresses with the message: “if you do not stop this dirty act within four days, then the punishment of God will fall on you at the hands of Mujahideen.” Other fliers refers to gay men with nicknames such as “Mohammed the Flower” and state: “Reform your behavior, stop being gay, or face deadly consequences,” and “Your fate will be death if you don’t quit doing this. Punishment will be tougher and tougher, you gays.”

These stories highlight the critical importance of resettling Iraqis persecuted because of their sexual orientation – both in Iraq and in neighboring countries. The blog post features a video of Ahmed, a gay Iraqi man resettled in the United States with IRAP’s assistance. Ahmed was a medical student in Iraq when he was forced to flee because his uncles found out he was gay, and wanted to kill him to restore the family honor. In the country he fled to, he was arrested by religious police, and raped in prison by a guard.

IRAP is committed to helping other Iraqis, like Ahmed, find safety in the United States.

See the full post here.

The result? “After more than 36,000 Iraqi refugees were resettled in the U.S. between October 2008 and September 2010, only 9,400 refugees were resettled here the following year. In the last three months of 2011, only 826 Iraqi refugees have been resettled in the United States,” according to the story. More than 29,000 Iraqis referred for resettlement are waiting for their clearances, including Iraqis who risked their lives to serve as interpreters and advisors to U.S. troops and diplomats during the war.

Becca Heller met with Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Denis McDonough to discuss the issue. Heller said that McDonough told her and other advocates that the administration has an obligation to ensure national security, but also acknowledged the advocates’ frustration.

“He told us that the issue was getting attention at the highest level, but they don’t know when it will be resolved and they don’t know if we’ll love what their resolution is,” Heller said.

Read the full story here.

Hayley Peterson: What now?

Becca Heller: I’m quite anxious about the situation in Iraq right now, because the only way out of the country has typically been through Syria and that’s not possible anymore. So I’m looking at other evacuation channels for people who are in immediate or acute danger

Read the rest of the interview here.

Although no one knows exactly how many Iraqis have been kept waiting, IRAP estimated last July that 62,000 Iraqis were waiting for their applications to be processed – 29,000 of whom had worked with Americans. Now, IRAP believes that 19,000 of those applications have dropped from the process, possibly because people went into hiding.

As the New York Times says: “The United States has a responsibility to rigorously screen visa applicants and ensure they pose no threat to this country. The process needs to be transparent and accountable — and it needs to work expeditiously.”

Read the full editorial here.

The U.S. is concerned, and indeed there is great cause for concern, that the security situation in Syria is too volatile to have DHS officers on the ground. “A simple solution to that would be too agree to conduct interviews by videoconference,” Becca Heller, IRAP Director, told the New York Times. But the US government has argued in the past that the law requires in person interviews. In its Memo on the Use of Videoconferencing in Syria, IRAP explains why the U.S. government should take advantage of this technology as soon as possible, and why legal arguments against videoconferencing are unfounded.

“I think we should really be worried about another refugee crisis,” Yasir Imad, an Iraqi who was recently allowed entry to the United States after living in Syria for almost four years, told the New York Times. He added, “the general feeling in Syria is that it is still better to be in Syria than Iraq.”

Read the full New York Times story here.

Read the Christian Science Monitor’s interview with Becca Heller in Thirty ideas from people under 30: The Change Agents.

“The US Embassy in Damascus was informed in January of 2011 that she needed emergency surgery for breast cancer,” wrote Heller. But it took 10 more months to get the visa approved in November – and her husband and sons DID NOT RECEIVE VISAS.  Only because IRAP put consistent pressure on the U.S. government did the woman’s family finally get visas – this week. “Although we were assured a number of times beginning in January that her case would be expedited,” says Heller, “even with the expedite it took over a year.”

Alaa often feels guilty that she is in the United States while her family remains in Iraq. “For the past five years I’ve been here, it’s like I’ve been split between two countries,” she says. “And I feel guilty. I still feel guilty that I’m here, that my people are suffering and that it’s dangerous for them.” She has applied for visas for them to join her but has “little hope that they will ever get refugee status.” They are happy she’s safe now, but Majeed worries because three of them are very ill and not getting the medical help they require. Virtually all applications have been slowed by the increased security background checks for refugees ordered by the Obama Administration. These orders came after two Iraqi refugees in Kentucky were charged with attempting to send weapons back to Iraq for use against Americans earlier this year. As a result, more than 58,000 refugees living in the U.S. were rescreened, and the number of refugees let into America was practically cut in half, from 18,016 in Fiscal Year 2010 to 9,388 in Fiscal Year 2011 according to the U.S. State Department website.

“There are people who have been waiting two years or three years and there’s now an enormous backlog of people waiting to be run through the new checks,” said IRAP director Becca Heller. “So it’s really anyone’s guess when the backlog is going to be cleared.”

Read the full piece here.

First, the authors argue, Homeland Security needs more resources to clear the security check backlog. Second, a formal expedite procedure should be developed for applicants facing immediate danger. Third, there should be a clear process to appeal an incorrect or arbitrary decision. An SIV applicant who is now rejected is told only that there is some “derogatory information” in their file and is barred from appealing or addressing this “information,” even in the case of applicants with nine U.S. military officers recommending them.

If it is not possible to immediately clear the backlog or expedite the cases of our allies still trapped in Iraq, the authors argue that a more drastic solution is necessary: an airlift to Guam– a move the U.S. has made before and that has support among Guamian politicians.

Read the full piece here.