Some 82,000 Afghans were airlifted from their country last August on emergency evacuations set up by the U.S., according to a new report from the advocacy group Association for Wartime Allies, but tens of thousands who worked with the U.S. are still stuck in Afghanistan.
The report said when the capital Kabul fell to the Taliban on Aug. 15, 2021, some 81,000 Afghans had pending applications for Special Immigrant Visas. which are U.S. visas available for people from Afghanistan and Iraq who worked with the U.S. government or military.
But just 3% of those applicants were actually evacuated last year. Some 78,000 were left behind.
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security announced some 76,000 Afghans living temporarily on U.S. airbases had made it to permanent resettlement cities across the U.S., including more than 2,000 resettling in Arizona.
But advocates warn many families are still separated, spread out in other countries and entangled in a bureaucratic puzzle that's making it difficult to reunite.
