(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration is planning to move interpreters and other Afghans who have worked for the U.S. and their families to a safe location amid growing fears of a Taliban takeover after the U.S. military withdrawal, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News Thursday.
The destination is not yet clear, but the plan is to move these Afghans to a safe location as they wait for their U.S. visas to be processed, the official said.
The plans should be underway “in a few days — at the most, a week,” the official added, but the U.S. is not yet executing it.
There are approximately 18,000 Afghans who have applied for a Special Immigrant Visa — an enormous backlog that will take months to sort through, with U.S. lawmakers and advocates saying it puts their lives at risk.
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