With the collapse of the American presence in Afghanistan, the cry has come out from the usual pro-immigration circles that something must be done to “save the Afghan interpreters,” of whom there appear to have been an astronomically outsized number.
Writing for FrontPage Magazine, investigative journalist Daniel Greenfield has looked at this demand, done the math, and found a scam.
He notes that before the withdrawal begun earlier this year, there were some 2,500 American soldiers in Afghanistan. (After the withdrawal, only about 600 soldiers remained.) And yet 20,000 Afghan “interpreters” have applied for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs).
“How can there be 20,000 interpreters for 2,500 soldiers?” he asks.
From 2007 to 2017, some 48,601 SIVs had already gone to Afghan nationals. There were never more than 100,000 U.S. troops in the country, which means that at the peak of involvement we must have had a so-called “interpreter” for every two GIs. Yet, by March of this year, a whopping 100,000 Afghans and Iraqis had been approved for SIVs.
Greenfield explains that the vast majority of Afghans were not interpreters at all. They were simply Afghan citizens employed in some capacity by any of the more than 50 different countries involved there. Some were even employed by local subcontractors funded in some way by the U.S. Most SIV applicants were just people making a buck off the occupation.
When one factors in programs such as Family Reunification, the 20,000 SIV applications currently in place will grow exponentially. “The long term numbers,” he says, will be “absolutely staggering.” And when you consider that Afghans have until December of next year to submit an application, the numbers are sure to expand greatly. A total of 100,000–in addition to the 100,000 SIVs already given out–is a distinct possibility and may be on the low side.
As Greenfield puts it, “Americans will have resettled an entire Tallahassee or Chattanooga worth of ‘interpreters’.”
None of this even considers the eventual cost to the American taxpayer or the potential threat to U.S. security. Nor does it factor in the potential tsunami of refugees and asylum seekers erupting from this catastrophe. As we noted a few days ago, more than five million Afghanis have already been displaced by the Taliban takeover internally. Perhaps three million of them will be headed to Europe. God only knows how many will eventually set their sights on America.
In the meantime, for more on the “interpreter” scam, see FrontPage Magazine.