As Travel Ban Winds Through Courts, Iraqis In The Middle

Munther Alaskry arrives at New York’s JFK International Airport
Munther Alaskry arrives at New York's JFK International Airport, in New York, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Alaskry and his family arrived at New York's Kennedy Airport after the Trump administration reversed course and said he and other interpreters who supported the U.S. military could come to America. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Munther Alaskry arrives at New York’s JFK International Airport
Munther Alaskry arrives at New York's JFK International Airport, in New York, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Alaskry and his family arrived at New York's Kennedy Airport after the Trump administration reversed course and said he and other interpreters who supported the U.S. military could come to America. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

As Travel Ban Winds Through Courts, Iraqis In The Middle

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As President Trump’s immigration and travel ban is working its way through the courts, one group that’s been at the center of the ban since its issue is Iraqis.

The Trump administration amended the immigration ban to allow Iraqis who have been granted an Iraqi Special Immigrant Visa (S.I.V.) to travel to the U.S. This visa category applies to Iraqis who have worked for the U.S. military.  

Kirk Johnson started a program to help bring Iraqi translators who had worked for the military to the U.S. in 2007. When Trump issued his executive order, Johnson took to Twitter for the first time in order to communicate with President Trump about how the ban was impacting the Iraqis he was trying to help.

Johnson is the founder of The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies and the author of To Be a Friend is Fatal: The Fight to Save the Iraqis America Left Behind.

He joins us to talk about the way the ban is impacting Iraqis, including those who worked for the United States.