CBS’s Green: I ‘Wonder’ How Hard Biden Administration’s Actually Working to Fix Process for Afghan Allies

During a report from CBS News Foreign Correspondent Imtiaz Tyab on the CBS News Streaming Network on Tuesday, co-host Anne-Marie Green stated that the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) process for Afghan allies could have been streamlined in the past year, and since it hasn’t “You’ve got to wonder how hard they’re working to get that done.”

Tyab said, “The Special Immigra[nt] Visa, which was a visa which was set up for translators, not just in Afghanistan, but also in Iraq, is a notoriously complex process. It’s about a fourteen-step application process. And if there’s any paperwork that’s wrong, most have to start over again. Now, it’s something that the U.S. government has said that they are trying to streamline, is trying to improve. But that’s very small comfort for the people that we’ve been meeting, including people…who are living in fear of the Taliban. They fear that the Taliban will retaliate against them for working with the Americans. Now, the Taliban says that there’s a general amnesty, that anybody who worked with the U.S. or any foreign forces will be forgiven. However, if you look at reports from leading human rights groups, they say that the Taliban has carried out extrajudicial killings, [has] arrested people without charge, and really [has] carried out what they’ve described as revenge attacks. And so, that fear is very real. But this bureaucratic process still remains.”

Green responded, “It’s been a year. You’d think that, in a year, they could streamline the process. You’ve got to wonder how hard they’re working to get that done.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett