The Biden administration is debating how to get thousands of Afghans who worked for the U.S. out of the country before American forces withdraw in a few months, over fears that time is running out ahead of a potential Taliban takeover.
White House national security aides have held several meetings about the matter in recent days to trade ideas, discussing options including a mass evacuation of thousands of people to a third country where they could be processed and brought to the U.S.
The biggest concern for U.S. officials is that Afghan citizens who played an invaluable role serving American forces and contractors such as translators, consultants, office assistants and drivers would be quickly targeted by Taliban forces, especially if they continue to gain ground on President Ashraf Ghani's government in Kabul.
The likeliest scenarios for the U.S. would involve extracting Afghans through the existing Special Immigrant Visa program, which has a long backlog, and allowing Afghan interpreters to seek refugee status, according to several people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because no decision has been made.
The White House is getting closer to presenting options to advocates and members of Congress impatient with the silence from President Joe Biden, who promised withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war and U.S. occupation. Biden's spokespeople declined to comment.
But with U.S. forces set to fully depart Afghanistan by Sept. 11, there's little time left.
About 35,000 Afghans meet the legal requirement for the Special Immigrant Visa program, according to James Miervaldis of No One Left Behind, a nonprofit organization that helps with resettlement. The number includes about 9,000 people who worked directly for the U.S. military, plus their spouses and children, he said.
The visa program doesn't fall under the refugee cap, but its rules are narrow and stringent, and it already has a years-long backlog of more than 17,000 applicants, Miervaldis said. If the Biden administration were to open a pathway for Afghans through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, the qualifications are broader, but numbers would fall under the refugee quota.
One challenge the administration faces: The U.S. Embassy in Kabul is understaffed, while Department of Defense contractors who would normally process applications have either left as part of the U.S. withdrawal or are getting ready to do so.
Planning efforts to help Afghans who worked with Americans started far too late, according to people inside and outside the administration. The coronavirus pandemic poses an additional challenge, making it harder for other countries to consider accepting possible refugees.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Monday that the administration had boosted consular staffing at the embassy in Kabul to handle more visas and the U.S. will "continue to look for ways to speed up this process."
"We have been acting with the utmost urgency knowing that, again, we have a special responsibility to the women and men who have, in many cases, placed themselves in harm's way to assist the U.S. government over the years," Price said.
Top Pentagon officials say a Taliban victory in Afghanistan by year end isn't inevitable, but the group controls a large part of the country and has shown little interest in working with Ghani's government.
"The Afghan security forces can fight, and they are fighting for their own country now," Gen. Mark Milley, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week. "There's a significant military capability in the Afghan government and we have to see how this plays out."