THE IRAQIS who have worked for the US government during the war have a "bull's-eye on their back," as Senator Edward M. Kennedy put it last year. Theirs aren't the only lives at risk, either; militants have kidnapped or killed relatives of those employed by the United States.
These workers need - and are owed - safe ways to build new lives.
Some of these workers are relocating to the United States on "special immigrant" visas. A new law backed by Kennedy increased the number of visas from 500 in an earlier program to 5,000. The law also expanded beyond interpreters and translators to include all Iraqis who work for the United States. This could include cooks, drivers, and fixers. And like refugees, special immigrants have access to resettlement programs run by the federal government.
Unfortunately, federal officials have stopped processing these visas, citing snags over such logistics as how visa applicants can prove that they face a threat in Iraq as a result of working for the United States. But the risk is gruesomely evident, and this bureaucratic hang-up should be cleared quickly to get Iraqis out of harm's way.
Federal efforts should focus on helping Iraqis who come here build new lives. One challenge for some professionals from Iraq (and other countries) is finding jobs that match their abilities.
Iraqis have "skills that are easily adaptable to our economy," says Richard Chacon, director of the state's Office for Refugees and Immigrants, noting that Iraqi immigrants often speak several languages and already have educations and work experience. Chacon knows of only a few Iraqi special immigrants in Massachusetts. But the state could set up job programs to accommodate more.
Rather than let professionals languish in low-wage jobs or unemployment, a San Francisco nonprofit called Upwardly Global helps them connect to American jobs. This is essentially a translation project, explaining in American terms what an immigrant's foreign experience is and how it can benefit domestic companies. It provides this support for Iraqis across the United States during a weekly conference call, covering resume writing, networking, and the option of moving to places with more job opportunities. The nonprofit is also organizing an employment "boot camp" that it hopes to hold in the coming weeks in Washington.
Special immigrants are only a sliver of Iraq's refugee crisis. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 2.4 million Iraqis are displaced inside their country, and another 2 million have fled to neighboring Syria, Jordan, and elsewhere. Still, making a place here for thousands of Iraqis who helped the US government would repay a debt of gratitude.
