Introduction of the Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the ``Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act''. The legislation would direct the State Department to automatically issue a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) for every Afghan who lived in the United States as a Fulbright Scholar and their immediate family members so they can escape persecution by the Taliban and relocate safely to the United States.

During Operation Enduring Freedom and the U.S. military drawdown from the region, my office helped to evacuate 251 individuals from Afghanistan. This includes American citizens, Afghan interpreters, and Special Immigrant Visa recipients. During the evacuation process, I helped evacuate over a dozen Afghan Fulbright Scholars who studied at the University of California, Davis. That experience exposed significant challenges for Afghan Fulbright Scholars with the current SIV process that underscored the need for the ``Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act.''

In 2009, Congress passed the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 (Title VI of Public Law 111-8) making a special class of American visas--known as Special Immigrant Visas-available to individual Afghan allies who supported the United States' mission in Afghanistan since the September 11, 2001 attacks. An SIV entitles a foreign national to relocate and live lawfully in the United States on a temporary basis with the option to settle permanently.

Fulbright Scholarships are one of the most vital U.S. cultural exchange programs that help to improve intercultural relations, diplomacy, and coordination between the United States and other countries. When my Congressional office learned that UC Davis' Fulbright participants were stuck attempting to escape Afghanistan last year, we immediately worked around-the-clock with both the State Department and the U.S. military to evacuate these Afghan allies. That critical work revealed red tape that prevented current and former Afghan Fulbright Scholars from escaping Taliban rule. My `Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act' would automatically issue a Special Immigrant Visa to all current and former Afghan Fulbright Scholars to help any remaining Scholars and their immediate family members safely evacuate the region.

This is the right thing to do for our Afghan allies who stood with the United States against the Taliban and the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks, and I will work tirelessly to ensure see them brought safely to America.

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