US to start evacuating some under-threat Afghan visa applicants

The United States this month will begin evacuating from Afghanistan applicants for special immigration visas whose lives are at risk because of work they did with the U.S. government as translators and in other roles.

The White House on July 14 said the evacuation, called Operation Allies Refuge, would start during the last week of July.

The Biden administration has been under pressure from lawmakers of both U.S. political parties and advocacy groups to begin evacuating thousands of special immigration visa applicants - and their families - who risk retaliation because of their work with the U.S. government.

That concern has grown with a surge in fighting between U.S.-backed Afghan forces and the Taliban in recent weeks, with the militants gaining territory and capturing border crossings.

"The reason that we are taking these steps is because these are courageous individuals. We want to make sure we recognize and value the role they've played over the last several years," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a briefing.

Psaki declined to provide specifics on the number of Afghans who will be in the initial evacuation flights, citing unspecified "operational and security reasons."

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the initial evacuation would include about 2,500 people and that they likely would be housed on U.S. military facilities, possibly in the United States, while their visa applications were processed. No decision has been made on the specific bases to be used, the official said.

The Special Immigrant Visa program is available to people who worked with the U.S. government or the American-led military force during the Afghanistan war that began in 2001. A similar program was available...