Wichita lawyer, local group among those working to help Afghan allies - KWCH

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WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - The U.S. effort to evacuate thousands from Afghanistan continues as American forces near an end-of-the-month deadline to pull out. It has some in Wichita desperately working to help Afghan allies escape that country, while others are preparing for arrivals.

James Thompson, a Wichita lawyer and veteran said it’s about commitment to Afghans who supported U.S. forces and saving their lives.

“It’s pretty dire at this point, Thompson said.

He said with the rapidly deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan, it’s complicating the effort to get two families the visas they need in just a few days. It’s a process that usually takes several months to a year.

“Immigration lawyer who specializes in this law and she’s a retired military colonel as well and her words to me where if they don’t already have their SIV (Special Immigration Visa) because of everything collapsing there, they’re probably S.O.L., was the language she used,” he said.

He said it’s “morally incumbent” upon Americans “to help those who helped us.”

In Wichita, Thompson is working to make that happen after a fellow veteran and National Guard member reached out on behalf of their Afghan interpreters. It’s after they exhausted other efforts.

Thompson said they’re trying to get members of two Afghan families to safety. He’s spoken with one of them who is constantly on the move.

“One step ahead of the Taliban, but not very far ahead,” Thompson said. “They stayed with a cousin night before last and they left and the Taliban showed up and executed his cousin.”

Thompson said what he is trying to secure are special immigration visas. That has him reaching out to his contacts in Congress where he’s finding some help from the Kansas and Missouri delegation and other elected officials. He said he’s been getting some assistance from Rep. Ro Khanna and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“People are responding and we’re making progress as far as getting a hold of people,” he said. “Whether or not we’ll be timely enough, I don’t know. We can only pray.”

Thompson said this is something that should defy politics.

“I hope everybody will put aside politics. This isn’t about one administration or another. I’m a Democrat,” said Thompson. “If I could reach out to Trump personally I would be on the phone with him in a heartbeat. Anybody out there that has the ability to help, I hope that you will. I hope we can put pressure on our elected officials to fast-track this whole process and get these people out of Aghanistan who helped us.”

Elsewhere in Wichita, the local International Rescue Committee is waiting for Afghan refugees to arrive.

“I expect to see them very soon actually,” International Rescue Committee Wichita Executive Director Michele Green said.

Green said the International Rescue Committee, or IRC, steps in after refugees are processed by the government and move on to the place they choose to live, often where they have family ties or friends.

“Anecdotally, if you will, we have some really strong ties with the Afghani families here that we’ve work within the past. They have indicated that we have potentially 16 families coming that they know of who are what we would call a U.S. tie, that goes back to what I was saying earlier, they are somehow linked to these families and they’re going to be asked to be placed near to them,” said Green.

“We are expecting those 16, but in addition to that, I think we’ll see quite a few more as the processing goes,” she said.

Green said the IRC also helps with housing and offers educational and employment programs along with other services to ease the transition.

Green said, “We provide in addition to what we call core services and those are the basic things, when they arrive and trying to get them set up in the state, we want to make sure that their social security cards are secured. Their documentation is all in order, the kids are enrolled in school, it’s all the basic, basic things that one would need to do when relocated to a new place. Beyond that, we would enroll them in employment programs, English language training, financial education, civics classes when the time comes.”

She added, “It is really common that people arrive with very little if anything at all. They may have a suitcase or a bag of items. We rarely see people arriving with a lot of luggage.”

Green said what is critical to this effort is community support and that’s what they’re seeing.

“We have seen an outpouring of support from the community, and Wichita is a very welcoming place historically and it’s no different right now,” she said.

Thompson echoed that, saying people have been reaching out offering up their homes as a place to stay and other resources.

Green said they will likely have a fundraiser in the near future to help support the Afghan families they are expecting to serve.

Copyright 2021 KWCH. All rights reserved.

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