Thousands of Afghan visa applicants will be housed at Fort Lee in Virginia

An Afghan interpreter works with a U.S. soldier in 2008.
(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

About 2,500 Afghans who have applied for special immigrant visas will be temporarily housed at Fort Lee in Virginia, U.S. officials said Monday.

There are about 18,000 Afghans who are eligible for special immigrant visas, after working as interpreters, translators, and contractors for the U.S. military during the war in Afghanistan. Since the U.S. announced it is withdrawing all troops from the country later this summer, several Afghans who are waiting for their visa applications to go through have shared their concerns over the Taliban coming after them and their families as retribution for their work with the United States.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.