A Visa for Albayati

On April 28, I was lucky enough to go to TEXVAC's annual Rayburn-Johnson dinner in Dallas and meet many people, some of whom I was already familiar with and some of whom I was not. I was familiar with State Representative Allen Vaught. I was not familiar with Mr. Hussein Albayati, the Iraqi translator who had aided US troops, endangering his own life to save others.

Vaught had aided Mr. Albayati in getting a visa so that he and his wife could take refuge in the United States, and they had just arrived. Vaught had good reason for offering this help: Mr. Albayati was Vaught's translator during 2003 and 2004, when Vaught was on the ground in Iraq.

When I spoke with Vaught about the issue briefly, he mentioned there had been "some difficulty" in the process, but seemed happy to have Mr. Albayati with him, safely in the United States, doing the meet-and-greet. I didn't properly grasp the situation at the time, but I liked Vaught immensely from my previous interactions with him. He had been on the show and I still count that one among the best and most surprising interviews we've done. Vaught was engaging, knowledgeable, genuine, and had some great stories to tell.

I was interested to hear from another pal that a story about Vaught and his Iraqi friend had been in a recent edition of the Dallas Morning News, and I asked them to send it to me. The piece ran in the June 24 Sunday edition and was (I am told) Tod Robberson's last byline piece before getting kicked upstairs to the editorial board. He picked a good one to go out on. The story is about Albayati, his wife Raghad al-Muqdady, and their journey from their volunteer work as translators for US troops in Iraq, to the danger that followed for them and their families, to the completion of the years-long process to get visas for travel to the US.

Albayati's wife and her sister were kidnapped by militants from the Mahdi Army and interrogated as suspected US collaborators. Albayati's small business was bombed. I'm not sure I can imagine what it must feel like to go out in your neighborhood and see Wanted posters with your face on them, posted by Muqtada al-Sadr's men. Most of this was underway while the visa process continued, with denial after denial coming back despite letters from commanders and generals attesting to Albayati's depth and value of service to the US effort.

This story is not only important and worth drawing your attention to because it involves a Democrat doing good, although Representative Vaught's work in helping Albayati get out of Iraq is certainly a story that should be told, over and over. There's a larger issue here that I think is also resonant in today's American politics, and it showcases the good reporting by Robberson present throughout the piece:

More than 4 million Iraqis are displaced because of the war, but since 2003, fewer than 500 Iraqi refugees have been allowed entry into the U.S. According to refugee-support groups, the U.S. government fears it could prompt a mass exodus if it begins allowing large numbers of Iraqis to immigrate.

This year, Washington will raise its limit to 7,000 Iraqis, mainly translators and other employees who fear their service to America puts them at risk. The number is less than half of what Norway allows and about equal to what Greece permits.

I suppose from a policy standpoint, I can see why there might be a desire for talented, intelligent Iraqis who support the changes brought on by Saddam's exodus to remain in Iraq. I can also say that an argument along those lines was a lot stronger before everything summarily deconstructed into the current cycle of violence. At some point, policy-makers have to look at the situation for what it is and adjust accordingly. With that in mind, the refugee policy should be revisited.

The underlying question is this: why would it take so long for a committed ally to US efforts in Iraq who could impart valuable knowledge and experience to the military and government have such a difficult time getting here, especially considering that enemies of the US were hunting him and his family and openly calling for his death?

Is it simple bureaucracy? This is a possibility. I understand that it is naive to think that a democratic government can just "do" anything, or change policy wholesale on a dime. If our series on veterans issues has taught me anything, it is that more people are affected in more ways by way than most people even begin to imagine, and that government is not usually equipped to deal with every facet of war's far reaching effects, whether it is in the case of taking care of our veterans, providing sufficient help for veterans families, or, as in this case, providing simple procedural assistance to in-country natives who risked their lives to help American troops.

So, with all that being said, I still think a strong argument can be made that this sort of thing should have been readily considered. It could be that it wasn't, due in large part to other naive or arrogant assumptions about how the war would go — if we are greeted as liberators, we won't need to get Iraqi nationals out of the country after they become seriously endangered for helping us, because they won't be endangered, and so on down the faulty logic chain.

Either way, the story is interesting, and you should know about it — about Mr. Albayati and Mrs. al-Muqdady did for US troops, and about what State Representative Allen Vaught did for them.