U.S. President Joe Biden’s rapid pullout from Afghanistan has left thousands of Afghans who worked as translators and guides for the U.S. military in a desperate race to escape the country to avoid being targeted by the Taliban.
Amid the chaotic U.S. withdrawal, Afghan allies are having to navigate complicated logistics and an overburdened bureaucracy to get visa paperwork in front of U.S. officials. Those same documents are both a ticket out of their war-torn homeland and also potentially incriminating evidence if the Taliban discovers them.
"The Taliban are knocking on our door,” said an Afghan national who worked as an interpreter alongside U.S. forces during some of the bloodiest years of the Afghanistan war. His name is being withheld to protect his safety. "My three daughters are always crying. We are very scared.”