U.S. Ramping Up Campaign To Provide Asylumn For Iraqi Combat Interpreters
They accompany us on just about every patrol, and then would go home every month or so for a few days and have grenades thrown in their living rooms.
AFP:
The United States conceded Tuesday that it was so far falling short of its goal for taking in Iraqi translators and interpreters who are under threat for working with the US authorities in Iraq.
A total of 821 Iraqis — translators, interpreters and family members — were admitted to the United States from September 2006 to September last year, said State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos.
An extra 39 Iraqis were admitted under the special immigration visa program in October 2007, the start of the new fiscal year, he told AFP. He had no figures for November or December or the first half of January.
Gallegos conceded the number falls far short of the rate needed to meet the goal of 12,000 for fiscal year 2008, which ends in September.
“We believe that the second and third quarter of this year are going to provide us with more substantial numbers of applicants, and, therefore, that we will eventually be able to meet the minimum of 12,000 that we discussed earlier in the year for fiscal year ‘08,” Gallegos told reporters.
“So we’re continuing the process. We are working apace. We are ensuring the security of the United States, yet proceeding with this as quickly as we can,” he said.
Gallegos cited concerns mentioned in November at the State Department that there were problems placing Department of Homeland Security adjudicators in Syria.
“Until we received permission from the (Syrian) government in October, we have not been able to process the number of applicants that we would have liked to,” Gallegos said.
“Our goal is 12,000. We’re committed to it. And we’re working toward it,” he added.
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These people are a little like the Hmong in the VN war. Let them all in. They’ve earned it…more so than the illegals comming up from dipshitistan to our south….that’s for damn sure.
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:46 pmAmen, Dan. Some of our truest souls.
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:03 pmGod bless them and let them in
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:23 pmSorry, I don’t want any more arab muslims in this country. Build them a nice safe enclave somewhere in Iraq like the Kurds have in the north. Its not that I don’t appreciate them laying their ass on the line for our guys, I do. What concerns me is what they will become or more likely what their children will become once they are in this country. Will they adopt American culture and values and become fully integrated? Or will they create a new “no go zone”? Since islam is a fucked up religion, I think it will tend to be the latter.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:25 am