US fails to Help Iraqi Translators

By John Carlson
www.desmoinesregister.com
March 25, 07

They don't go "outside the wire" without covering their faces with ski masks. A bare face is suicide, a near guarantee they'll be recognized, hunted down and killed by insurgents.

But hundreds of Iraqis, most of them unarmed, do it every day, working as translators for American soldiers and Marines on the most dangerous streets in the world.

"They risk their lives for us," said Shelaine Tuytschaevers of Cumming, a sergeant in the Army Reserves who spent 2005 in Iraq. "It's more than translating. They see things on the streets we don't see and understand things we can't begin to comprehend. I can't tell you how many American lives they've saved. We truly have an obligation to them."

In the case of three translators Tuytschaevers came to know, two brothers and their sister, that means getting them to the United States.

"They'll be killed otherwise," Tuytschaevers said. "It's terrible and it's true."

Here's another truth: The American government's bureaucracy is so cumbersome, the immigration rules so restrictive, the three translators might never make it to safety.

"This is the most frustrating thing I've ever been through in my life," said Tuytschaevers' mother, Roselyn Harbart of Johnston, who has been working nearly a year and a half trying to get the translators here. "My daughter explained to me what they did and how much they put themselves at risk for our soldiers. I won't let this one go."

The brothers, Raid and Amer, and their sister, Tika, fled Iraq for Jordan when Tuytschaevers' unit left its base in Mosul and their jobs as translators ended in December 2005. In spite of the ski masks and all the other precautions to protect their identities, including just the use of their first names here, the three believe insurgents know who they are.

It's why they left for Jordan, along with some hundreds of thousands other Iraqi refugees. They were among some 10,000 translators working with coalition forces in Iraq. Some are forced to flee when they and their families are targeted, but U.S. immigration rules make coming to America seem a near impossibility.

Under current rules, only 50 special visas are earmarked each year for translators who worked with our troops. And that's for translators in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. It makes for a long and frustrating wait.

This year, for instance, the quota has been filled. Speculation is that the number is set so low because military and State Department officials believe the troops would be left with no translators if large numbers were allowed to immigrate.

Applicants must be sponsored by an American citizen - the three translators are sponsored by Harbart - and their paperwork goes through a three-step process.

Applications for Raid, Amer and Tika were filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Lincoln, Neb., in late September 2006. That office is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

The applications were reviewed and sent on to the second step in the process, the National Visa Center in Portsmouth, N.H., a State Department office. That's where two of the three applications are today.

Raid's application, which for some unknown reason is moving more quickly, was sent on to the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, the third and last step in the process. Raid is now waiting for an appointment at the embassy. If he gets final approval, he will be issued a visa and allowed to come to the United States and work. After five years here, he can apply for citizenship.

"We're not sure why the other two applications haven't moved forward," said Mimi Sanford of U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley's Des Moines office, who has been helping Harbart and Tuytschaevers in trying to get the translators out of the Middle East. "The key to this is the fact the quota has been met. Unless that quota is raised, and there's some interest in Congress in doing that, they'll just have to wait. It's not that there's any question about their qualifying. A lot of documentation has been provided giving details of all that they did to help our military. I think they will get here. I just can't say when that might be."

Michele Uitermarkt, another soldier in Tuytschaevers' unit, confirms the risks the translators faced.

"I remember going on patrols and Raid telling us which neighborhoods were friendly and which weren't," Uitermarkt said. "That's important. I don't think there's any doubt it saved lives."

And the risk isn't exaggerated. Both Tuytschaevers and Uitermarkt know of translators who have been killed for "collaborating."

"One was burned alive in Baghdad, as a demonstration to people what will happen if you help Americans," Tuytschaevers said.

Uitermarkt said another translator was killed leaving the base in Mosul.

Those are just examples of why this is so urgent, the soldiers say.

"They're going to run out of money waiting in Jordan," Harbart said. "Eventually, they'll be sent back to Iraq. That's no option. They'll be killed. Our government has an obligation to get them here."

The brothers' resumes show they are educated and would be valuable citizens if allowed to come to the United States. The older brother, Amer, who is 34, is proficient in computer operations and accounting and has a bachelor of arts degree in French literature. He translates English, French, Arabic and Assyrian languages.

Raid, 30, has worked as a computer designer, has a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and translates English, Arabic and Chaldo-Assyrian languages. Tika's resume was not made available.

The three are Catholic, which also singles them out for persecution in Iraq.

"I'm talking about this because I want to give them a face," said Tuytschaevers. "The irony is we can't show their faces. All they wanted to do was help us and make their country a safer place. Now it's not safe for them. It's bigger than just these three. All these translators should be at the top of immigration lists."

Harbart said friends aware of what she and her daughter are trying to accomplish have suggested they do an end-run on the government and simply sneak the translators into the United States.

"I had somebody ask me why they just didn't get themselves to Mexico and walk across the border because that's how most people get into the country," said Harbart. "I said Shelaine and I want to follow the law and (the translators) want to follow the law. They don't want to sneak in and have to hide here, like they have to do in Iraq. They want to be citizens."

Tuytschaevers said the benefits go beyond what's morally right.

"People in Iraq are told that if they work with us, they will have a better life and their country will be better," she said. "If we just ignore them after they risk their lives and save ours, what does that say to the Iraqi population? It says don't work with the Americans. It's so sad. If we don't help our friends, we're helping our enemies."