US Congress Agrees on 2,500 More Visa for Afghan Interpreters

US Congress reached a deal to provide an additional 2,500 visas for Afghan interpreters who worked for the US government and now risk being killed, in an attempt to alleviate a massive backlog of more than 13,000 applications for the special visa programme. “This is potentially a life-saving development,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the lawmaker who spearheaded the effort to secure more visas, said in a statement on Monday. “Allowing this programme to lapse would send the message to our allies in Afghanistan that the United States has abandoned them.” American media reported that the bill, if passed, would benefit hundreds of Afghans whose lives are under threat because of working for American troops during the war. Introduced in 2008, the special immigrant visa (SIV) programme seeks to let Afghans who had helped the US-led coalition as interpreters find their way to the US.