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Washington, DC -- Today, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) voted for H.R. 3985, the ALLIES Act, legislation to protect Afghan interpreters, contractors, security personnel, and other partners who face deadly retribution by the Taliban for their work with the United States government. This bipartisan legislation will expand and expedite the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) process, which helps Afghan partners and their families safely immigrate to the United States, and is a responsible and necessary action to wind down the war in Afghanistan.

“I'm proud we passed the bipartisan ALLIES Act to improve the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program, an essential step to ensure the safety of those who have aided U.S. forces as our presence in the country winds down,” said Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton. “This legislation expands visa availability and expedites the application process to ensure that the interpreters and contractors who were crucial to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, as well as their families, are able to escape retribution from the Taliban. Thousands of Afghans came to the aid of our servicemembers -- we must now come to theirs and protect our Afghan allies.”

Created in 2009, the Afghan SIV program offers visas to interpreters, contractors, and security personnel who worked with the U.S. government in Afghanistan, who now live in fear of violent retribution by the Taliban. However, severe delays and backlogs have left many applicants waiting years for their visas -- and hundreds have been killed before receiving approval. As the United States continues the necessary process of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, it is an urgent priority to ensure the safety of Afghan SIV applicants and their families.  

The Averting Loss of Life and Injury by Expediting SIVs (ALLIES) Act, which was introduced by Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO) and the bipartisan Honoring our Promises Working Group and cosponsored by Congresswoman Wexton, increases the number of available visas by 8,000, eliminates redundant paperwork, and clarifies eligibility standards for the program. This legislation also strengthens protections for surviving spouses and children of deceased SIV applicants, helping more of them retain their SIV eligibility. These changes will help streamline visa processing without compromising the strict background check and vetting procedures in place to protect national security.

The Biden-Harris Administration supports this legislation. Additionally, the Administration announced this week plans to evacuate 2,500 Afghan partners to Fort Lee in Virginia while they await final processing of their visas, as the evacuation process begins.

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