Senators introduce bill to improve visa program to protect Afghan interpreters who helped US
CNN
A bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation aimed at improving the Afghan special immigrant visa (SIV) program amid a growing push from lawmakers, veterans and advocates to ensure that Afghan interpreters and others who helped the United States are protected once US troops fully withdraw from Afghanistan.
The bill introduced Thursday by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, Dick Durbin, Joni Ernst, and Roger Wicker would expand the number of authorized visas by 20,000 and revise some of the eligibility requirements for the program. Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, noted that the SIV program is in need of "serious improvements" in order to "uphold the integrity and improve (its) efficiency."President Joe Biden on Sunday delivers his first commencement address of the 2024 season at Morehouse College, where the president may for the first time in months have to confront the angst that’s been percolating on college campuses nationwide toward his administration’s policies on the Israel-Hamas war.
Arab and Palestinian Americans left a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday night frustrated they did not have a clear understanding of how the Biden administration might act upon their concerns as the Israel-Hamas war devastates the civilian population in Gaza, participants told CNN.