Blindsided by Friday’s order from the White House that temporarily slammed the door on immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, the Department of Defense is scrambling to put together a list of Iraqi nationals who helped U.S. forces over the past 15 years that might be in line for a waiver.
The list would consist of “those who have tangibly demonstrated their commitment” to support U.S. forces, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday.
Davis wouldn’t confirm if the Pentagon asked the White House for permission to start compiling the list of names, but said, “we have been provided the opportunity by the White House” to submit the list. Reports have indicated that the executive order wasn’t shared outside of the White House before it was signed on by President Trump on Friday.
The president signed the order in the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes, which honors Medal of Honor recipients, backed by Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary James Mattis. Davis would not comment on any input Mattis might have had on the order before it was signed, and said the building is “still assessing the impacts” of the order.
Among the questions hanging over the order and its implementation are the fate of Iraqi military pilots currently training in Arizona, as well as other Iraqi officers in the United States, and the thousands of U.S. service members who hold foreign nationality. Defense officials couldn’t provide a breakdown by country, but said that the Pentagon typically recruits about 5,000 non-citizen, legal permanent residents per year, and the average number of non-citizens on active duty has averaged about 18,700 since 2010.
Department of Homeland Security officials did not respond to requests for comment on whether Trump’s executive order represents a blanket ban on Iraqi nationals with Special Immigrant Visas, or SIVs, who served as interpreters for the U.S. military; on U.S. service members who are citizens of the seven Muslim countries; and on Iraqi pilots and officials who come to the U.S. to train with the U.S. military.
On Monday, the Iraqi parliament asked Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to respond to the White House order, demanding that American contractors and journalists be banned from entering Iraq, a move that could potentially affect operations for the 6,000 U.S. troops currently deployed to Iraq.
The list of potentially thousands of names of Iraqis that the Pentagon is compiling would be welcome news to the Iraqis who worked as translators, informants, cooks, truck drivers, and other jobs supporting the U.S. war effort in their country since 2003 — and to many of the U.S. troops who worked with them, often under fire.
Fred Wellman, a retired Army officer who served for 22 years, including four combat tours, said the executive order blocking those who served with the U.S. military is “very personal to me.” One interpreter he worked with is struggling to get by in Erbil, Iraq, while another, who was approved for an SIV, was due to come to the United States this spring but is now in limbo.
“My first interpreter was murdered by Al Qaeda and we were able to get his family here very quietly in 2005,” Wellman told Foreign Policy Monday. “Now we have thousands stuck, and it will make it incredibly difficult to get local help now and in the future if we don’t keep our promises to those who risked their lives and now pay a price for it at home.”
Brandon Friedman, a former officer with the 101st Airborne Division, has worked for years to bring home Hameed Khalid Darweesh, an interpreter who worked for more than a decade on behalf of the United States government in Iraq.
“I’ve always felt that we owed him a debt that wouldn’t be very hard for us to repay and that’s why it’s disappointing to see this,” said Friedman, who also served in the Obama administration.
“It’s about the other people who are like him, or the other people and families who are fleeing ISIS terror. These are the people we need to be helping, not blocking.”
Hameed was detained for more than 19 hours at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Friday, but was released after a court order Saturday.
Photo Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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