WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., celebrated final passage of legislation to protect Afghan interpreters who risked their lives to support the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

Wicker was an original cosponsor of the Afghan Allies Protection Act, provisions of which were included in an emergency security supplemental appropriations package that is now headed to the President’s desk to be signed into law. Wicker has been a longtime supporter of efforts to protect Afghan allies and secure the nation of Afghanistan.

“When President Biden chose to withdraw hastily from Afghanistan, he put many of America’s close allies in Afghanistan in immediate danger -- including thousands of Afghans who served as interpreters with the assurance their lives would be protected. This legislation would help fulfill America’s promise to these interpreters by providing the resources needed to evacuate them and to streamline visa approvals for those caught in limbo in the Special Immigrant Visa program,” Wicker said.

The Afghan Allies Protection Act was introduced by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. Provisions from the legislation that were passed by Congress will increase the number of authorized visas for the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program by 8,000, remove bureaucratic hurdles while maintaining the program’s integrity, and improve the program’s efficiency in light of the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. 

Among other provisions, the legislation will:        

• Change the employment requirement for eligibility from two years to one year;     
• Postpone the required medical exam until the applicant and their family have arrived in the United States;      
• Remove the “sensitive and trusted” requirement for International Security Assistance Force and Resolute Support employment; and     
• Provide for Special Immigrant status for certain surviving spouses and children of murdered applicants.     

Full text of the legislation is available here.     

Earlier this year, Wicker wrote an op-ed about his push to protect Afghan interpreters.