The Atlantic’s Packer: Estimates Are ‘90%’ of Afghanistan SIVs ‘Are Still There’ and We’ve Pretty Much ‘Stopped the Work’ of Bringing Them in

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” George Packer, a staff writer at The Atlantic, discussed his article about the exit from Afghanistan and said that, according to estimates, “90% of SIV applicants” are still in the country and that the “terrible” numbers are because “the evacuations since August 31 have ground to a near halt.”

Packer stated, “The organization Veterans for American Ideals estimates that 90% of SIV applicants, that is to say, those who worked for Americans during the war, did not get out, are still there. And right now, the numbers are terrible, Jake. Because the evacuations since August 31 have ground to a near halt. I mean, there are tens of thousands of Afghans who have applied for either refugee status or what’s called humanitarian parole, which is to be brought into the United States on a temporary basis, are waiting for applications to be reviewed and very few are making it through, in the single-digit percentages. And the same is true of the SIVs, both those who have visas, those who passed through most of the stages of the application, or those who have just started. We have pretty much dropped the ball and stopped the work of bringing them in. There was that two-week period in August when we frantically did what we could. But since then, it’s ground to a halt and it’s a tragedy for the Afghans and really for the United States.”

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