The International Refugee Assistance Project(IRAP)
Providing Legal Aid for Afghan Refugees
A letter arrived at a US base in Afghanistan:
“It seems I have been targeted by the Taliban. Every morning I'm so afraid that today may be my last day. Please help me get out of here. Please help me." – Afghani interpreter
The sender was Muhammad (pseudonym), an interpreter for the US military in Afghanistan, father of six children.
Since the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2021, the Taliban have relentlessly shot and killed any who had sided with the U.S. forces over the past 20 years. Muhammad was also targeted, and was eventually brutally murdered in front of his 10-year-old son without ever being rescued.
The reason he became an interpreter for the US military was because of his “Special Immigrant Visa”—a special visa granted those who served in the US military. Like Muhammad, about 50,000 Afghans became US interpreters to obtain it. Since 2014, approximately 70,000 interpreters and their families have entered the United States on this “Special Immigrant Visa.”
However, during the same period, more than 1,000 interpreters were brutally murdered by the Taliban, and there are 20,000 such interpreters still left in Afghanistan. Each is in danger of being executed the next day, like Muhammad.
Why the immigration of Afghan interpreters has been delayed
Why is their immigration being delayed? This is because of institutional flaws in the Special Immigrant Visa Act. At the time the law was enacted, the maximum application processing time stipulated by U.S. Congress was nine months, but on average it takes about four years to process one immigration application. No one can guarantee the life or death of Afghan interpreters during visa processing times that far exceed the standard.
First lawsuit on behalf of Afghan refugees
The year 2018:
One legal entity files lawsuit in regard to this legal flaw.
Title of the case: “Appeal regarding systematic delays in the process of applying for the Special Immigrant Visa”
A lawsuit concerning an Afghan refugee was first filed in a U.S. District Court. The group that initiated the lawsuit consists of lawyers from the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), who launch a “reckless challenge” against the U.S. Congress.
Despite a series of defeats and setbacks, they would not give up but appealed repeatedly, and the IRAP lawyers were eventually victorious. This victory resulted in the approval of 10,000 visa applications. Their appeal took more than four years, and saved 10,000 lives.
International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
IRAP started as a small project undertaken by Yale Law School students. The founding motive of this project stemmed from the experiences of students while doing volunteer service work abroad in Jordan.
They listened to the same tale of hardship and loneliness of refugees that I had been hearing over and over for several decades.
“My father is in good health but cannot find a decent job.”
“Mother is anxious about her family that got separated by the immigration process.”
“Our kids miss the neighborhood and school where they used to play with their friends.”
These stories have one thing in common: There were no legal services available for people attempting to navigate the immigration system.
So they organized various IRAP legal services:
- Formal immigrant registration
- Providing information about safe emigration routes
- Separated family reunion project
- Safe Asylum Support
…and many more assistance programs and services.
IRAP has provided numerous legal services for refugees, from isolated personal legal aid to state-wide litigation to obtain class action rulings.
For the sake of refugees who still lack protection
But there are still many mountains to climb. Refugees who do not obtain “national” status cannot obtain legal assistance because the laws of a given nation are only effective for subjects of that country. Afghans who received Special Immigrant Visas managed to make it to the United States after passing through many hurdles and ordeals, but because they are not “Americans”, they could not submit any appeal under U.S. law.
So today, the lawyers of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) are taking action on behalf of refugees.
