Many thousands of Iraqis helped our soldiers, whether it was translating or doing other tasks. Now that the war is supposedly over these people are in real danger; all have been threatened, some shot, others murdered. We did establish two programs to help these Iraqis come to the United States: the Special Immigrant Visa program for Iraqis and the Direct Access Program for U.S.-Affiliated Iraqis. The first program has admitted over 7,000 Iraqis here but stopped accepting new applications in 2014. Tens of thousands have been admitted under the second program, but there are still 58,000 Iraqis awaiting interviews.
President Trump has signed orders to stop immigration from Iraq and six other countries for 90 days. What will happen to those who helped us but are still in Iraq? How will this order affect our troops as it makes it harder to recruit local support in war zones?
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