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The Empty Passport On November 10, 2025, Nasir sat for his visa interview and left his family's passports at the embassy. He started with American companies in 2007 as a welder, and later he ran a warehouse. There were training stages and examinations to pass, and the work got more particular as the years went on. Among everything across those fourteen years, the job he names as his proudest was on the sleeping and comfort areas for U.S. troops, repairing and arranging them

The Two Calls Two phone calls tell Khan's story, and they came from opposite directions. The first reached him in Mazar-i-Sharif in the days after Kabul fell, when he dared to switch his phone back on. It was his American captain, the officer he had served beside in Kandahar, calling from the far side of the world with two questions: What's happening? Are you safe? Khan was, barely, and only because he kept moving. That captain has stayed in touch ever since, and has writte

Time is Gold Five times in every twenty-four hours, Rafi checks his visa case. The check takes a minute; the status has not moved. Some hours pass, and he checks again. Every day he also watches the news for any announcement that the United States has begun issuing Afghan Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) again. His whole life now fits inside the space between those two habits. It is a strange life for this particular man, because Rafi's defining trait was never patience. "Tim

The call reached Rashid at eleven at night, which in Afghanistan in 2007 meant someone had worked hard to place it. One of the company's flatbed trucks had broken down in Shah Joy district, on the Kabul to Kandahar highway. The military convoy escorting it had moved the container onto another truck and continued the mission. The driver was still out there. Rashid was the transport manager, and bringing that man back was his job. He told the deputy manager, put together a team

The School in the House Farida's Story Every morning in a small rented home in Pakistan, class begins. The teacher is Farida, and the students are her two sons. There is no school because the family cannot afford one, so she built one out of what she had, which is herself. "I am a wife, a mother, and a person who believes in education and hard work," she said. That belief has a long history for Farida. From September 2011 to May 2013, she worked as a finance assistant on U.S.

The Man at the Gate Abdul's Story There is no single dramatic day in Abdul's story, and that absence is the story. Other allies can point to a warning that stopped an attack or a mission that went wrong. Abdul's service did not work that way. From late 2010 to the end of 2012, he was an ASG guard at an American forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan, employed through an Afghan security company contracted to the U.S. Army. The work was maintaining the perimeter, ensur

Tell Your Members of Congress: Cosponsor the Afghanistan TPS Act of 2026! Bipartisan, bicameral champions in the House and Senate recently introduced the Afghanistan TPS Act of 2026, which would designate temporary protected status for Afghans in the United States, including our Afghan allies. No One Left Behind is proud to endorse this necessary legislation. The Afghanistan TPS Act of 2026 would designate Temporary Protected Status for Afghan nationals in the U.S. at the tim

Tell Your Representative: Cosponsor the Afghanistan TPS Act of 2026! Reps. Crow (D-CO), Bacon (R-NE), Salazar (R-FL), and Liccardo (D-CA) recently introduced the Afghanistan TPS Act of 2026, which would designate temporary protected status for Afghans in the United States, including our Afghan allies. No One Left Behind is proud to endorse this legislation. The Afghanistan TPS Act of 2026 would designate Temporary Protected Status for Afghan nationals in the U.S. at the time

$100,000 initiative funds education and training for Afghan and Iraqi Special Immigrant Visa holders; applications open July 13 and close July 27. NEW YORK and ARLINGTON, Va., July 13, 2026 – No One Left Behind (NOLB) and The Afghan Future Fund (AFF) are now accepting applications for the second round of the America's Allies Scholarship Program (AASP), a $100,000 initiative funding education and training for Afghan and Iraqi Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders living in the

Tell Your Representative: Cosponsor the Bera and Crow Afghan Allies Amendments! Congress is considering amendments supporting the Afghan SIV program in the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). We need your help to include these critical provisions in this must-pass legislative package. Bera #938 would reinforce that it is United States policy to support our Afghan allies through the Afghan SIV program and refugee admissions. Crow #1144 would extend the

Tell Your Representative: Cosponsor the Afghan SIV Amendments! Congress is considering amendments supporting the Afghan SIV program in the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and State Department Appropriations (NSRP). We need your help to include these critical provisions in these must-pass legislative packages. For Appropriations, Rep. Jason Crow is leading amendments with longstanding bipartisan support to extend the Afghan SIV program through 2027,

More than 1,000 Afghan evacuees are currently at Camp As Sayliyah (CAS), a U.S. facility and former military base in Qatar, all of whom were moved to CAS by the U.S. government (USG) with the intention of swift and safe resettlement. However, the Administration had pursued negotiations to move these families to the Democratic Republic of Congo, which would have put these Afghan evacuees at great risk. Our partners in Congress are leading a bipartisan effort to support “secure

My name is Karim. Years ago, I made a decision that seemed small at the time — I accepted a job as an interpreter with a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. I was young. I didn’t realize that choice would follow me for the rest of my life. Working as an interpreter was nothing like people imagine. We weren’t sitting behind desks translating documents. We were out front — walking through villages, valleys, and mountain roads alongside U.S. troops. We were often the

A broken program, a years-long obstruction, and what America still owes its wartime allies By Matthew Marcellus, No One Left Behind In February 2020, Charles Wintermeyer agreed to write a letter. He had known the man for whom he was writing for over a decade. They had served together in Zabul province, southern Afghanistan, at a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). A straightforward recommendation was needed. A confirmation that Wintermeyer had worked with this person, that

ARLINGTON, VA — On March 14, Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal tragically passed away, less than 24 hours after being taken into ICE custody. Nazeer had served alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan and had an asylum case in processing. His cause of death is not yet determined. We mourn his passing. He leaves behind a wife and six children, including an infant. No family should face this reality. Mr. Paktyawal’s family and the public deserve answers. No One Left Behind calls for a ful

Tell Your Representative: Support Our Afghan Allies in Fiscal Year 2027! The House Committee on Appropriations is crafting the government spending package for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27). This is an important legislative opportunity that has historically included critical provisions to support our Afghan allies – increasing the number of Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) the Afghan SIV program can issue to bring vetted allies to safety and conducting oversight on the operation of th

Media Contact: Matthew Marcellus | Media@nooneleft.org WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Feb. 11, House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats held a shadow hearing discussing the relocation pathways that directly affect our Afghan wartime allies. Although shadow hearings are held by the minority and are not formally included in the legislative process, it platformed the sustained bipartisan work by U.S. veterans to keep the promise to our Afghan allies. We are grateful for our p

How one Afghan political specialist is rebuilding his career through the America’s Scholarship Program. By Matthew Marcellus | No One Left Behind in collaboration with Afghan Future Fund For Afghan SIV holders rebuilding professional careers in the U.S., programs like the America's Allies Scholarship Program provide critical financial stability during the transition. The kitchen table is covered with vocabulary flashcards. Mohammad sits with his four children, working through

Media Contact: Matthew Marcellus | Media@nooneleft.org WASHINGTON, D.C. – No One Left Behind welcomes Friday's federal court decision ordering the U.S. Department of State to resume processing Chief of Mission (COM) applications for Afghan and Iraqi allies with pending Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applications. The ruling requires this first step in the significant SIV vetting to resume immediately for class members whose applications have been pending longer than the congr

Tell Congress: Reopen the Afghan SIV Program! On January 1, 2026, Presidential Proclamation 10998 suspended the issuance of Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) to eligible, fully-vetted Afghan allies. This leaves our closest wartime allies at risk of violent retribution by the very terrorists the proclamation seeks to address. It is key that your Members of Congress hear from you – their constituent – that keeping the promise to our Afghan allies by reopening the Afghan SIV progr