House Republicans supposedly want to rescue the Iraqis who aided the United States military by working as translators and other staff. Those Iraqis’ lives may now be in danger because of that work—but their entry into the U.S. will be drastically slowed if the bill the House passed Thursday putting up barriers to Syrian refugees becomes law. That’s because the bill doesn’t just apply to Syrians, it also applies to Iraqis.
Iraqi translators in particular face dangers, and rescuing them has been a priority for the U.S. troops they served. They are among at least 58,000 Iraqis with ties to the U.S. who are still awaiting processing, according to the International Refugee Assistance Project, and providing them a pathway to the United States has enjoyed bipartisan support. [...]
Betsy Fisher, deputy policy director at IRAP, said that the U.S. is sending a terrible signal to overseas allies and foreign nationals who would otherwise help American troops in the future.
"It's yet another sign that the U.S. is not willing to live up to the commitment it made to those folks," said Fisher, whose organization has worked extensively with Iraqi refugees in particular.
Not that Republicans refusing to keep the commitments the U.S. made when it waged war on Iraq is anything new, but it’s still worth noting that the rush to show how terrified they are of Syrian victims of terror has gotten House Republicans—and 47 House Democrats—to abandon even the pretense of caring about Iraqis who put their own lives in danger for the U.S.