Dem senator vows to boost Afghan visas

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) is pledging to fight for an extension a visa program for Afghans who helped U.S. troops and diplomats during the Afghanistan War after failing to get a Senate vote on the proposal.

“I’m disappointed and disheartened that the Senate could not come together to support these brave men and women,” Shaheen said in a written statement Tuesday afternoon. “I’ll continue to look for every opportunity to extend this important program.”

{mosads}A bipartisan group of senators led by Shaheen filed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have authorized 2,500 more visas for the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program, which is available to Afghans who served as interpreters during the war.

But the Senate passed the annual defense bill without taking votes on most of the more than 500 amendments filed on the bill after fights among senators over a handful of amendments.

Ten thousand Afghans have applied for the special immigration visas, but only 3,500 visas remain available.

Supporters of extending the program say Afghans who helped Americans are now at risk of being killed by the Taliban.

“It’s unconscionable that the Senate has turned its back on the brave Afghan men and women who put their lives on the line to support our troops,” Shaheen said. “Our country owes a great debt to the Afghans who provided invaluable assistance to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. For many of them, this could be a death sentence. Thousands of Afghans have put themselves, and their families, at risk to help our soldiers and diplomats accomplish their mission and return home safely.”

The Senate will have another chance to debate defense issues when the appropriations bill comes to the floor in the coming weeks.

The failure to get a vote on the amendment to the NDAA was of particular frustration of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who last week said the senator blocking the amendment from being voted on was “literally signing the death warrants” of the Afghans. 

“I am deeply disappointed the Senate was not able to increase the number of special immigrant visas for Afghans who risked their lives to help America in a time of war, and whose lives are still at risk today,” McCain said in a statement after Tuesday’s vote on the NDAA. “Too often throughout this process, a single senator was able to bring the Senate’s work on our national defense to a halt.”