A bipartisan coalition of members of Congress are seeking to provide green cards to Afghans who assisted the United States in the war in Afghanistan.
To that end, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, is reintroducing the Afghan Adjustment Act, a bill that was also proposed in 2023, to deal with the aftermath of the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The bill would provide conditional permanent residency (green cards) to Afghans who have legally entered or been paroled in the U.S. on or after July 30, 2021, and who have gone through an eligibility and vetting process.
The bill also creates special immigrant visas for those Afghans who aided in the U.S. mission by serving in the Afghan air force and some other military capacities. The new bill’s vetting requirements come after the Biden administration failed to properly vet at least 21 individuals during its U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Republican cosponsors of the bill are Reps. Zach Nunn of Iowa, Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Maria Salazar of Florida, Michael Baumgartner of Washington, and Dan Crenshaw of Texas. On the Democrat side, Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., is leading the charge for the legislation. The bill is also cosponsored by Democrat Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Ami Bera of California, Seth Moulton and Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania.
The renewed legislative effort comes after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social in July that he would try to rescue the Afghans who fled to the United Arab Emirates.
“I served in combat in Afghanistan. I might not be here today were it not for the brave Afghans who fought & served alongside us. After the war, we promised we’d protect those who protected us, and we need to make sure the U.S. is living up to that commitment. The Afghan Adjustment Act is an important next step to get vulnerable Afghan families to safety and ensure they can live in the United States,” Crow told The Daily Signal.
Miller-Meeks is also a veteran, having served in the Army for 24 years. She explained that the legislation was needed in part because of the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan by U.S. forces.
“It was a disastrous and incompetent withdrawal, which we once again left behind our allies, and my concern prior to the withdrawal, and I remember asking [then-Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas] this question in one of our homeland security meetings, whether or not Afghanistan was going to end up being another Saigon 2.0, and we would lose credibility with our allies,” the Iowa congresswoman said of the Biden administration’s pullout.
Miller-Meeks explained that the legislation sought to help Afghans who directly assisted the American forces.
“[T]here were Afghan interpreters and others who assisted us, assisted us at their own risk, their own peril. And I had service members and former military who had Afghan interpreters or people who were embedded with them in their units, who they were trying to get out of Afghanistan,” the Iowa legislator said.
“I think President Trump is correct, and when there are people who we have recruited to help our service members in a foreign nation that we owe them the response to help, to secure them and get them out of countries that want to send them back to the Taliban, which we know for them and their families, will be a death sentence,” Miller-Meeks said.
“This is a bipartisan issue, and with President Trump’s expressed support on this issue, this is something we’re hoping can rapidly get through,” she added.
The post Exclusive: Iowa Lawmaker Reintroduces Bill to Give Green Cards to Afghan War Allies appeared first on The Daily Signal.