As the United States enters the final phase of withdrawing the military from Afghanistan, the Biden administration says it will evacuate Afghans who worked with U.S. troops.
"Those who helped us are not going to be left behind," President Biden told reporters on Thursday. Afghans who worked as interpreters and contractors have shared their concerns that once the U.S. is out of Afghanistan, they might be hurt or killed by the Taliban. There is a special immigration visa program for these Afghans, but it moves slowly — some applicants have been waiting for years — and lawmakers and veterans of the Afghanistan war have voiced their worries over how long the process can take.
Biden, who will meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the White House on Friday, told reporters he does not know where the Afghans will be relocated to, but the U.S. has "already begun the process" of offering assistance.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Many advocates say the Afghans should be able to settle in the U.S. territory of Guam as they wait for their applications to be processed, and Guam's governor has said they would be welcome on the island. "This is America's responsibility, we don't need to outsource to another country," Chris Purdy, project manager of the Veterans for Americans Ideals program at Human Rights First, told NBC News.
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Codeword: August 23, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Operation Rubific: the government's secret Afghan relocation schemeThe Explainer Massive data leak a 'national embarrassment' that has ended up costing taxpayer billions
-
British warship repels 'largest Houthi attack to date' in the Red SeaSpeed read Western allies warn of military response to Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels if attacks on ships continue
-
Houthi rebels claim Red Sea ship attacksspeed read Iran-backed Yemeni group vows to escalate aggression towards Israel-linked vessels in revenge for Gaza war
-
Israel plans next phase of Gaza war as first hostages releasedSpeed read After four-day ceasefire 'we will not stop' until destruction of Hamas, says Israel
-
Mob storms Russian airport 'looking for Jews'Speed Read Plane from Israel surrounded by rioters chanting antisemitic slogans after landing in Russia's Dagestan region
-
Tuberville's military promotions block is upending lives, combat readiness, 3 military branch chiefs saySpeed Read
-
Ukraine's counteroffensive is making incremental gains. Does it matter in the broader war?Speed Read
-
US commissions first-ever Navy ship in a foreign portSpeed Read
