Hi Everyone, Please call your Senators and Representatives and ask them to stand with our allies, both in the ongoing crisis in Syria due to the US military's sudden withdrawal and the Afghan and Iraqi US military interpreters who have been left behind. Here are some brief updates on both my family's effort for the Kamran family and other Afghans left behind by the United States and on efforts in Congress to support the Kurds in Syria.
My family and I are continuing to fight for the Kamran family and others like him. Several House members led by Reps. Mike Waltz and Jamie Raskin are pressing for a classified briefing on the Kamran family's case, and several bipartisan Senators are tentatively planning to send a bipartisan letter to the Trump Admin asking about USCIS's alleged security concerns on Muhammad and his family's case as well as an explanation of the 99.7% drop in admissions of Iraqi interpreters under the Direct Access Program and a more than 60% drop in admissions of Afghan SIV immigrants. Here is a recent PRI story that features the Kamran family and a few other cases:
This recent betrayal of the Kurdish people who sacrificed so much to help us fight ISIS is yet another betrayal of brave foreigners who worked with our military to fight against terror only to be left behind as soon as the US decides we don't need their help anymore. The situation unfolding in Syria is heartbreaking. Although the bloodshed in Syria continues, some of the initial furor over Trump's decision has died down. We can hope that VP Pence and Sec. Pompeo's trip to Turkey today leads to a ceasefire, but Pres. Trump is already undermining that effort with more shocking comments this morning. And the Trump Admin is working to make exceptions to the sanctions they announced on Monday.
Sens. Lindsey Graham and Chris Van Hollen are introducing bipartisan legislation that will be much stronger than the current sanctions the White House announced, and Nancy Pelosi has strong bipartisan support in the House to pass this as well. Please call your Senators and Representatives to support this bipartisan legislation to help end the bloodshed in Syria, and ask them to support bipartisan efforts to help Afghan and Iraqi allies as well. Congress must step up as the Trump Admin continues to betray our allies.
https://insidedefense.com/insider/us-crafting-waivers-continue-arms-sales-turkey
Thank you,
Kristy Perano