Trump and the Translators A chance to prove his policy is not anti-Muslim but anti-jihad.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-and-the-translators-1474065628
At the recent commander-in-chief forum, a woman asked Donald Trump whether he would let an undocumented worker who wanted to serve in the armed forces stay in the U.S. His answer probably wasn’t what people expected. “I think that when you serve in the armed forces, that’s a very special situation,” Mr. Trump said, “and I could see myself working that out, absolutely.”
Thanks to the Obama Administration and Congressional Republicans, the GOP candidate now also has a chance to show common sense on the matter of Muslims. At issue is a special visa program that expires Oct. 1 for foreign translators who served honorably with U.S. troops, the State Department or agencies such as the FBI—and whose lives are now in danger because of that service.
These visas are meant for folks such as Janis Shinwari, who in April 2008 was attached to a U.S. Army unit in Ghazni province when it was ambushed and Lieutenant Matt Zeller was blown into a ditch by an enemy mortar. Two Taliban were about to kill him, Mr. Zeller says, when his interpreter, Mr. Shinwari, shot them dead. Mr. Zeller says he knows at least four other Americans whose lives Mr. Shinwari saved.
The danger these former translators face is real. Last year Sakhidad Afghan, an interpreter for the U.S. military, was hunted down by the Taliban, tortured and executed. He had been waiting years for a special visa.
Congress should have extended the program for a year this spring, but it got caught in domestic politics. Bob Goodlatte, the Virginia Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said the visas are an immigration measure under his jurisdiction. He says he supports the program but also says we need “reasonable limits.” The final House language allocated no new visas and narrowed the criteria for eligibility.
Utah’s Mike Lee held up the bill in the Senate to make an unrelated point, so the provision never got a vote. Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions has come out publicly for letting the program expire. That means these visas are in limbo as Congress tries to complete a defense bill before Members head home for the election.
The leaders who should be loudly calling on Congress to keep this program going—President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Ash Carter, presidential nominee Hillary Clinton—have been silent. Meanwhile, Messrs. Goodlatte and Sessions are effectively strangling the measure.
Mr. Trump could call on Congress to include language taking care of the translators who have proven their loyalty to America. If Mr. Trump is right that Islamic radicals are at war with us, shouldn’t these Muslim allies go to the front of the line? Mr. Trump would get support from the generals, admirals, veterans organizations and Medal of Honor recipients who have been out front arguing that our ability to fight wars, advance our interests abroad and enlist locals to help depends on whether they think America will have their backs.
Mr. Trump has been at pains to explain that he is not broadly anti-Muslim but specifically anti-jihad. We can’t think of a better way to make that clear than by calling on members of both parties to stop their political posturing and fix these translator visas while they still have time.
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