No One Left Behind Urges National Security Focus After Jan. 14 Senate Hearing on Afghan Evacuations

WASHINGTON — Today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing reconfirmed that the Special Immigrant Visa program balances America’s commitment to wartime allies and rigorous vetting and national security concerns. As veterans, military spouses, and diplomatic leaders each shared with the committee, the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program remains a national security imperative that demands bipartisan commitment, not partisan recrimination.

"We are grateful that the Committee heard directly from Lt. Col. (Ret.) Perry Blackburn and Sgt. Nadim Yousify,” said Andrew Sullivan, Executive Director for No One Left Behind. “Their expert testimony displayed the integrity, duty, and sacrifice that our wartime allies and veterans who served beside them continuously demonstrate.” 

Supporting the potential for a productive conversation, No One Left Behind submitted more than 20 statements for the record from our community members, sharing the deep connections between U.S. servicemembers and their Afghan partners as well as the strategic national security role of the Afghan SIV program.

We appreciate the testimony from the OIGs and bipartisan Senators in which they expressed interest in real steps towards reopening the Afghan SIV program, and we look forward to taking those steps with them. The Afghan SIV program requires such robust vetting, including biometric screening, background checks, in-person interviews, and Chief of Mission approval, that it continues over years of screening, and its resumption is necessary. While that work was not the primary focus of today's hearing, No One Left Behind remains committed to engaging publicly and privately with Committee members and the Administration to advance American national security through the Afghan SIV program.

“The Afghan SIV program exists because Congress recognized both the strategic necessity and moral imperative of keeping faith with local partners," said Sullivan. "Abandoning vetted allies hands adversaries a recruitment tool, undermines American credibility with current and future partners, and jeopardizes the human intelligence networks that keep American service members alive in combat zones worldwide.”

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About No One Left Behind 

No One Left Behind is the nation's oldest veteran-founded nonprofit dedicated to ensuring America keeps its promise to wartime allies from Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2013, NOLB has provided advocacy, resettlement assistance, and financial support to thousands of SIV recipients who served alongside U.S. troops.