An Afghan interpreter who served alongside U.S. Marines fled the country with his family over safety concerns. Now, his Special Immigrant Visa was denied for the last time.
Afghanistan
An Afghan Interpreter Risked His Life for US Marines. Now, They’re Fighting So He Can Stay In the US
A dual memoir by a Chicago-native U.S. Marine and an Afghan interpreter offers insight into the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan one year later and the Afghans who are still trying to find safety and security.
A year after the dramatic day, much has changed in Afghanistan. The former insurgents struggle to govern and remain internationally isolated. The economic downturn has driven millions more Afghans into poverty and even hunger, as the flow of foreign aid slowed to a trickle.
Northeastern Illinois University has provided 17 Afghan refugees with one-year scholarships to study at the school.
President Joe Biden on Sunday called for the release of U.S. Navy veteran Mark Frerichs of Lombard, who was taken hostage in Afghanistan nearly two years ago.
The Pentagon retreated from its defense of a drone strike that killed multiple civilians in Afghanistan last month, announcing Friday that a review revealed that only civilians were killed in the attack, not an Islamic State extremist as first believed.
The Biden administration on Wednesday began notifying governors and state refugee coordinators across the country about how many Afghan evacuees from among the first group of nearly 37,000 arrivals are slated to be resettled in their states.
The Taliban raised their flag over the Afghan presidential palace Saturday, a spokesman said, as the U.S. and the world marked the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Nearly 10,000 Afghan evacuees are staying at the base while they undergo medical and security checks before being resettled in the United States.
The U.S. has halted all U.S.-bound flights of Afghan evacuees from two main bases overseas after discovering a limited measles outbreak among Afghans arriving in the United States, a hitch that American officials warned will have a severe impact on an often-troubled U.S.-run evacuation.
An ardent U.S. ally, Kosovo, has agreed to take in Afghanistan evacuees who fail to clear initial rounds of screening and host them for up to a year, a U.S. official said Saturday.
At least 50,000 Afghans are expected to be admitted into the United States following the fall of Kabul as part of an “enduring commitment” to help people who aided the American war effort and others who are particularly vulnerable under Taliban rule, the secretary of homeland security said Friday.
As the final five U.S. military transport aircraft lifted off out of Afghanistan, they left behind up to 200 Americans and thousands of desperate Afghans who couldn't get out and now must rely on the Taliban to allow their departure.
Addressing the nation, a defensive President Joe Biden on Tuesday called the U.S. military airlift to extract more than 120,000 Afghans, Americans and other allies to end a 20-year war an “extraordinary success,” though thousands of people looking to leave remain.
The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan late Monday, ending America’s longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit.
The White House says more than 116,000 people have so far been evacuated, but not everyone has been able to escape. Hundreds of Afghan refugees could settle in the Chicago area, and local immigrant groups are working around the clock to try and make that happen.
