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Mohammad v. Blinken: Protecting Afghan families in imminent danger

Under the Afghan Allies Protection Act (“AAPA”), the State Department is obligated to provide protection to individual Afghans who helped the U.S. government in Afghanistan – and their families – who are in immediate danger while the government processes their applications for Afghan Special Immigrant Visas (“SIVs”). In October 2021, IRAP sued the State Department on behalf of Mohammad, an Afghan SIV applicant who requested – but did not receive – State Department protection for his eleven- and nine-year-old sons trapped in Afghanistan.

Mohammad sought to compel the State Department to fulfill its obligations under the AAPA by responding to his petition for protection and removing his sons from Afghanistan, where they were in constant danger and in hiding following their mother’s death caused by Taliban harassment. In January 2022, Mohammad’s sons received derivative SIV status and were able to reunite with their father in the United States.