Having made the decision to withdraw, the Biden administration must fulfill an obligation to those abandoned to the Taliban.
As a result of America’s abandonment of Afghanistan and its Afghan allies, refugees are seeking to flee the country in fear of the brutal Taliban. It raises the question: Will America save Afghan refugees? To date, the Biden administration has talked about a welcoming refugee policy but has yet to implement one. With the crisis in Afghanistan, the time to act is now, note experts. “The Biden administration’s blind eye to Afghan nationals is a stain on the United States,” said Ali Noorani, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, in an interview. “Once the Biden administration announced the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, it was not hard to predict the collapse of the nation. What is astonishing is the utter lack of planning by the administration to develop and execute a plan to protect the lives of tens of thousands of Afghan nationals who worked with our military. Men, women, children whose only crime was to help our troops will be killed as a result. “The administration needs to evacuate as many SIV [ Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans] applicants, their families and those eligible for protection to Guam—or another U.S. territory—immediately. While it will be too late for many stranded across Afghanistan, such an operation will save the lives of a few. Furthermore, the U.S. needs to rally the international community to prepare for what will likely be a massive surge of Afghan refugees. It is past time to see, with both eyes, what has happened as a result of this failure.” There are at least three categories of Afghans most in need of protection from the Taliban. First, as Ali Noorani points out, are those individuals who worked with the U.S. military. Dan Lamothe of Washington Post reported on August 15, 2021, “The U.
