As Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021 following the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, many Republicans in Congress urged the government to provide refuge to Afghans who assisted American forces during nearly two decades of war.
The New York Times reported that in the months and years that followed, both Republican and Democrat lawmakers pressed for expanding the Special Immigrant Visa program, arguing it was a moral obligation to protect Afghan allies who faced retaliation for their work with U.S. troops, diplomats, and contractors.
That bipartisan effort has since stalled following the arrest of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan evacuee charged with shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., shortly before Thanksgiving, killing one and seriously wounding the other.
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