Page 6 - Siv Program News Today

The siv program which is one of the routes that many people have taken over the last several weeks through relocation flights is plagued with backlogs. there are somewhere around 20,000 people who are at some stage in the process in the siv program, and the newly announced program just last week requires afghans to get out of afghanistan and get to the third country, which as you can imagine right now is impossible, so, yes, these programs need to be scaled up, and fixed, but there also needs to...

>> you know, the families here that have already been resettled, the afghan families that have already been resettled through the siv program are definitely very worried and concerned about their families back in afghanistan. theyre also, i think, a little bit confused, as am i, to be honest, about why there wasnt a more orderly process in place. you know, the u.s. government has been working with these folks for decades, many of them. so theyre known to the u.s. military. the u.s. military has ...

Our own time line was september 11th. i dont frankly understand that as a timeline when that sort of is not what you normally try to do when youre in a situation with a known enemy. so there are lots and lots of questions that i think we should all be asking the answers for and hold ourselves accountable for what the answers to those questions are. >> and you were among those warning them and trying to speed up the siv program that was legislation last month. >> there was, and again, i question ...

Staff. americans, allies, and other partners from kabul to their onward destinations. secretary established the crisis action group in early july the, and weve been working very chosely with the department of state as a lead agency since that time. partnered with the department of homeland security, our initial focus was to relocate the sivs, finalize their visas and resettle them into the united states with the help of our nongovernmental organizations. to date nearly 2,000 afghans have passed ...

>> the department of defense enters into this in support of the state department. and the state department has, for many years, as you know, executed the siv program. the addition of the u.s. military support to that program was new, and it was generated by guidance to try accelerate and help the process due to the timed delays inherent within getting them through. so we were asked by the state department to provide support to their operation. thats not a suggestion that that is when sivs became...

0 that they are the ones that have protected our nation for the past two decades by taking the fight to the terrorists in iraq and afghanistan, and not allowing them to attack our homeland. and, unfortunately, we see the resurgence of the taliban and the reconstitution of al qaeda in afghanistan. so i worry about the homeland. but that is the very first thing that our president needs to communicate is to these brave men and women, a heartfelt thank you. the second thing is how are we going to ev...

What we are to them. when we knew theyd be leaving for kabul, we spoke personally with his mom and dad. and his mom said to me, i am giving my son to you, you are now his mother and i entrust him to you. the kids call us grandma and papa, and we just love them. and we speak -- now were talking every day because were on the same time zone. before that it would be texts and e-mails. and before now we were just working so hard through the siv program. we were lucky to have support through the allia...

>> sure. he -- raheem and i worked together and he was my interpreter at my forward operating base near gardez. and the more we worked together and the more we shared and the danger that we shared and the good times together, we became closer. hes the same age as my youngest son, so i took that connection to him very strongly and very early in our relationship and helped him and his wife, and they had three children at the time. ive just pictured my son raising three children in that environment...

If we were waiting on the u.s. siv program, he would still be stuck in kabul. so my thanks and my gratitude as to canadian siv program whos brought this forward and got him to safety as fast as they did. so i hope this is a continuation to the u.s. and not a destination. >> hopefully so so you can be reunited. you are his family. this is such a touching story. tell us how youve been sporting him over the years and help his family manage to get to canada? >> well, over the years our relationship ...

But as up to 14 months before they can get that paperwork. there has been legislation, congressman jason crow and others sponsored that did pass which would cut some of the red tape of that siv program. >> those people living in the park that our colleague cynt viewing, they cant get that paperwork. and its four mules as you know from the embassy to the airport. and how are they going to traverse those four miles even the people of the embassy who are going to have some security, some 1400 peopl...