Trump administration loses court case over Afghan and Iraqi visas

‘They served bravely in support of our missions abroad...we promised them a pathway to safety in return,’ lawyer says

A US soldier walks with an Afghan interpreter before a mission (Reuters)

A US federal court has said the Trump administration broke the law by delaying visa decisions for citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq who worked with soldiers in conflict zones.

Legislation passed in 2013 requires the US to deliver a decision for such applicants within nine months, whether the government grants or rejects a visa.

Some of those affected have waited for several years for a resolution, according to NBC News.

Many worked as translators for the troops during conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, a role which saw them later targeted by extremists.

“The fact that the adjudication process is a complex one does not excuse delays of such magnitude, because Congress explicitly referenced that complexity in the nine-month provision,” said Judge Tanya Chutkan, a US District Court judge.

Ms Chutkan said the government had offered no convincing justification for why it had ignored the 2013 law.

The Trump administration has drastically cut the number of refugees allowed into the US, capping numbers at 30,000 a year, a historic low.

Barack Obama’s administration capped refugee visas at 110,000 a year in the last year of his administration.

The White House has clashed with the Pentagon, which argued against further reductions to numbers and for 6,000 slots to be set aside for interpreters and people who had worked with US troops.

Ms Chutkan ordered the government to produce a plan on fixing the delays within 30 days, calling the slow process “untenable”.

“This ruling could finally bring relief to these men and women and their families who have been waiting in fear for far too long,” said Deepa Alagesan, a lawyer with the International Refugee Assistance Project.

“They served bravely in support of our missions abroad, and we promised them a pathway to safety in return.

“This ruling ensures that we keep our promise.”

James Mattis, the former defence secretary, unsuccessfully tried to convince the Trump White House to relax visa restrictions for the group.

“Over the last 17 years of war, numerous Iraqi nationals have risked their own lives and their families’ lives by aligning with our diplomats and warfighters providing essential mission support. We owe them support for their commitment,” he wrote, in a September 2018 memo first obtained by Politico.

Mr Mattis has since resigned.

Members of Congress have also repeatedly pressed the White House to relax restrictions on visas for interpreters.

The case of one man, Muhammad Kamran, who worked as an interpreter for soldiers in Afghanistan has been raised by politicians on both sides of the political divide.

Mr Kamran has been targeted by the Taliban and later fled to Pakistan, fearing for his life.

He was denied a US visa over unspecified “security concerns” in November 2017.

Jamie Raskin, a Democratic congressman and his party colleague Pramila Jayapal joined forces with Tom Reed and Michael Waltz, two Republican representatives, in February over Mr Kamran’s case.

The group wrote to the Department of Homeland Security, seeking further information about the case.

“The lives of the Kamran family, including four young girls, are at imminent risk,” they said.

“We can now only conclude that the Department of Homeland Security is stonewalling us by failing to provide any information as to why the Kamran family, including four young children, has been denied humanitarian parole considering the service provided to this country by Mr. Kamran.”

Mr Kamran remains in Pakistan.

In 2018 the US admitted only two Iraqi interpreters through its refugee scheme.