This September 30th marks the 10-year anniversary of the sunset of the Iraqi Special Immigrant Visa Program. More than 23,000 U.S.-affiliated Iraqis have entered the United States on a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV). However, the program stopped accepting new applications on September 30, 2014. Ostensibly, another legal pathway for Iraqi nationals affiliated with the U.S. government – the Iraqi Priority 2 Direct Access Program (Iraqi P-2 DAP) – promised to fill the gap. Congress created the Iraqi P-2 DAP to provide refuge to U.S.-affiliated Iraqis, including those who could not qualify for SIVs but who were at risk of harm, such as employees of U.S. non-governmental organizations and media organizations or certain family members of U.S. citizens, green card holders, and others. But the U.S. government’s lack of continued support for the program has left that promise unfulfilled and tens of thousands of U.S.-affiliated Iraqis in harm’s way.
“I’ve been waiting to reunite with my family for eight years through the Iraqi Priority program－it’s unfair. My goal was to serve my country by working alongside the US mission in Iraq. I worked with the US mission more than a decade ago. I never intended to put my family in danger. Now, I carry the guilt of leaving them behind in harm’s way. When I arrived in the U.S., I dreamed of bringing my mom to show her the land that gave me freedom and safety, but I never got that chance－she passed away before I could. I can only hope my siblings can be safe with me and we can all have peace together.”
– Mariam(Pseudonym); SIV recipient and current IRAP client
Last year, IRAP filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government seeking information about USCIS and the State Department’s processing of Iraqi P-2 DAP applications under the U.S Refugee Admissions Program. Government documents obtained by IRAP show how broken and backlogged the program is:
- In January 2021, the Department of State suspended the life-saving program for review following allegations of fraud by U.S. government employees. The suspension was extended in April 2021 and then finally lifted in March 2022, yet documents obtained by IRAP show that cases did not move forward for review until over a year later.
- Since Congress started the program in 2008, 237,496 Iraqi nationals have applied, but only 47,575 have been admitted. During the suspension, over 100,000 individuals remained stuck in the pipeline:
- Following review of the program, agencies decided to re-perform employment verification of all cases in the pipeline, in addition to already rigorous USRAP security vetting. Yet government documents obtained by IRAP showed the government later determined reverification to be “time intensive, costly, and inconclusive.”
- Ultimately, the Department of State proposed ceasing reverification for over half of all cases that were determined to be low risk. Even still as of January 2024, over 30,000 Iraqi P-2 DAP cases were pending re-review by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM). and less than 200 cases had been cleared from the backlog.
- Even more damaging, instead of focusing on more effectively administering the program, a report to Congress obtained through IRAP’s FOIA litigation shows that the Secretary of State recommended that Congress consider a “wind-down” for the program.
Many Iraqi-Americans who came to the United States through the SIV program have depended on Iraqi P-2 DAP to be reunited with their families. Yet since the program’s resumption, extensive delays have left them feeling forgotten, despite the sacrifices they made for the United States.
“The information obtained through our lawsuit shows that despite the announcement lifting the suspension more than two years ago, the program’s restart has been slow and laced with inefficiency. The government must prioritize steadfast adjudication of the thousands of cases that have been languishing for years and make concrete efforts towards realizing its promise to Iraqi allies.”
-Mevlüde Akay Alp, IRAP Senior Staff Attorney, U.S. Litigation
IRAP has called on the Administration and Congress to take more concrete steps in fulfilling their promise to Iraqi allies – many of whom continue to live in fear and have felt forgotten by the United States. IRAP’s recommendations over the years have included:
- Commit to transparency and fairness around the review and suspension. Specifically, provide Congress and the public with monthly updates on the status of the review. Such reports should specify how many cases have been reviewed, how many cases have cleared the review, how many cases have been implicated in the fraud scheme, how many immigration officers are actively reviewing cases, how many cases remain in the review, any other discovery in the review, and the updated time estimated to complete the review of all cases.
- Implement a plan for the expedited processing of cleared cases. As soon as a case clears the review, it should immediately proceed through the adjudication pipeline. Expediting processing requires providing sufficient State Department and USCIS staffing to process pending Iraqi P-2 DAP applications, as soon as the case has cleared the fraud review, including consular support personnel, immigration adjudicators, fraud reviewers, Resettlement Support Center staff, and interpreters.
- Adjudicate applications of Iraqis whose applications are not reliant on the outcome of the fraud review (i.e., based on a relative with a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) or an approved I-130 family reunification petition, or those outside the clearly defined parameters of the review). If these individuals are exempt from the suspension, USCIS should also make this transparent so that applicants are not left guessing at the status of their application.
- Provide applicants whose files will be closed or denied due to the fraud review with sufficient detail to ensure applicants understand the grounds of the closure or denial, and ensure that applicants have a clear pathway to appeal or reopen the decision.
“I feel very lucky that my sister made it to the United States through the [Iraqi P-2 DAP] but it was a very long, difficult, and frustrating process. I could not get many answers to my questions about why my sister’s case was taking so long. I had to ask my local representatives and senator to flag my sister’s case. I had lawyers from IRAP help me and even then it took many years for my sister to come to the United States. I cannot forget that many other families in the Iraqi American community that I am part of are still worried and waiting for their family members. It should not be like this because we sacrificed for the United States.”
– Anrita; Former IRAP client
Ten years ago, the U.S. government closed the SIV program to new applicants leaving the Iraqi P-2 DAP as the only pathway to safety for U.S.-affiliated Iraqis and their family members. However, the P-2 DAP program continues to be beset by delays, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and a lack of transparency–problems that have been identified by internal government audits and by organizations like IRAP. Today, tens of thousands of applicants remain waiting for a decision and many are living in fear for their lives. The sacrifices of Iraqi allies to the United States cannot be forgotten. How the U.S. government fulfills its promise to Iraqi allies today will be representative of how it regards other allies who put their lives on the line to support U.S. interests. The United States must not fall short and be a true example of allyship and diplomacy.
Trinh Tran is a Senior Supervising Attorney in IRAP’s U.S. Legal Services Department.
