The Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program was started in 2006 to provide Iraqi and Afghan translators and interpreters and their families refuge in the United States for their service to our military. Translators and interpreters devoted their time to U.S. military efforts, risking their safety and livelihoods to support the troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. The men and women who served as translators were critical to U.S. military efforts abroad, going into the trenches with servicemembers, building and maintaining relationships with local community members, and serving as critical guides to soldiers unfamiliar with the new terrain.

Mr. Naseri was one of these fearless individuals. And he needs your help.

Mr. Naseri is an Afghan citizen who faithfully served alongside U.S. and coalition forces as a translator at Bagram Airfield for more than six years during Operation Enduring Freedom. Mr. Naseri survived countless firefights and IED explosions, and his work was key to operational success. Due to his service and association with the U.S. military, he and his family were threatened with death--and Mr. Naseri has survived one attempt on his life. Seeking safety for himself and his family, Mr. Naseri sought a SIV in 2013.

Mr. Naseri has had a legal team consisting of a supervising attorney and a handful of law students from the George Washington University Law School who have labored on his behalf for the last four years. After a long fight for the visa he was promised, he was initially granted approval. Finally, in the summer of 2017, Mr. Naseri received his visa and travel itinerary.

So much changed over the long four years he waited for this opportunity. His family grew in size with the birth of three new babies. Their spirits were high and a safe life full of new opportunity finally seemed just within reach. Mr. Naseri and his wife sold their belongings, packed their bags, and boarded a flight to Dubai with hopes of continuing on to the U.S. now that they had their visas. But they were denied boarding onto their final flight from Dubai. They waited patiently in the airport for several days before the U.S. government decided five years of faithful and loyal service, along with four years of applications, vetting, and background checks, were not enough, and his family needed additional clearance. Without any explanation other than that additional clearance was needed, the family was put on a plane back to Kabul, right in the heart of the danger they had fled.

 Today, Mr. Naseri and his family are not safe.

Since being sent back to Afghanistan, Mr. Naseri has been forced out of his home village because of his faithful service to the U.S. military. 

Recently, members of the Taliban threatened to find and kill him. Suspected Taliban members fired an AK-47 at the door of his family’s compound.

Just a few weeks ago, Mr. Naseri's cousin was killed in an attack. 

Mr. Naseri had no choice but to leave his family behind and go to Kabul, trying to draw the threats away from his family.  Yet his family continues to face verbal and physical assaults as a result of his dedicated support and service to the people of the United States.

As long as Mr. Naseri, his wife, and their three young children remain in Afghanistan, their lives are in grave and immediate danger.

Although the original cohort of law students has moved on, a new group begins each year, taking on the case and trying their best to help.

They do not know why he was denied that last flight to freedom and safety.

They do not know why he was forced back to danger.

They do not know when the United States will live up to its promise to protect.

They do not know why it has taken now five years to provide a visa to man who risked his life daily for years to protect our troops.

It has already been one year since he was supposed to arrive to safety in the United States.

As operations in Afghanistan continue even 17 years later, fulfilling our promises is not only a question of honor--it’s a question of national security. The U.S. military relies on local translators to do their job, and when our government does not fulfill its promises, reliable translators become harder to find. Tell our government we must keep our promise of protecting translators and interpreters, like Mr. Naseri.

Take a stand and help secure Mr. Naseri’s safety. Doing the right thing is as easy as adding your signature. Mr. Naseri dedicated his service to the United States, but it shouldn’t cost him his life.