Yesterday, The Washington Free Beacon discussed the plight of one IRAP client from Afghanistan affected by the U.S. government’s recent policy change around the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program. The government’s rule change retroactively increases the length of service required to qualify for an Afghan SIV to two years, unfairly barring many deserving applicants from obtaining protection.
The Washington Free Beacon spoke with Dave, an IRAP client whose SIV application was rejected last month for “insufficient length of employment.”
“Dave was one of the guys running out into the open without any body armor, without a helmet, without a weapon, without anything,” said Karl Beilby, a civilian contractor who worked with Dave in the Pech River Valley. “And he was helping carry the stretchers.”
Dave is now stranded in Afghanistan, fearing for his life. “I’m always awake in the night time. I can’t sleep,” he told the Beacon. “Because all the people in my town … the people don’t like me. Everybody knows who I am.”
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