607: Didn’t We Solve This One?This American Life #607, WBEZ, Jan 6, 2017 We’ve fought two wars since 9/11. We got help from tens of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans—some were targeted or killed because they helped us. We owe these people. We’ve passed laws that say so. So why has it been so hard for us to get many of them to safety? Prologue: Host Ira Glass interviews Congressman Seth Moulton (D., Mass.), who served four tours as a Marine in Iraq. Moulton talks about an Iraqi translator he grew close to, and about a special visa program that allows Iraqi and Afghan translators to come to the U.S. What will happen to the program after Trump takes office? (8 minutes) Ira Glass Act One: An Iraqi translator named Sarah has been trying to get to the U.S. for eight years. Finally, this fall, she got a call to come in for an interview for her visa. Now she was one step away from a verdict that could lead to a new life for her and her two sons—or leave them in jeopardy. Producer Nancy Updike tells what happened. (23 minutes) Nancy Updike Act Two: Nancy returns with a story that explains the origins of the special visa program for interpreters. A decade ago, a young guy named Kirk Johnson inadvertently became the point person for American policy about the Iraqis and Afghans endangered by their work for us. Kirk reflects on the visa program’s successes and failures—and on how, recently, his advice to translators who want to immigrate to the U.S. has radically changed. (25 minutes) Nancy Updike
Congolese mother and child finally reunited in ChicagoRex Huppke, Chicago Tribune, 3/16/2018 The asylum-seeking Congolese mother and child I’ve been writing about for the past two weeks have finally been reunited here in Chicago, where the 7-year-old girl has been held apart from her mother since November. To recap, Ms. L. fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo with her then-6-year-old daughter, S.S., fearing imminent death. They arrived at a port of entry in California in November, found a border agent and said they were seeking asylum. The mother passed a credible fear test, meaning immigration officials believe she has a strong asylum case and would face death or persecution if returned to her home country. Ms. L. followed all the laws this country has established for asylum seekers. But for reasons that remain unexplained, she was separated from her daughter and incarcerated at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in San Diego. The ACLU filed a lawsuit to get the two reunited, and in a response, attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security argued that the mother arrived with insufficient documentation to prove she and the child are related.