I’m a white Christian fighting to bring a Muslim family to the U.S. Here’s Why.

There’s a disastrous humanitarian situation fore more than 17,000 Afghan interpreters who have been left behind to face torture and death at the hands of the Taliban. Afghans, many of whom have helped and aided American troops in the region after the events of 9/11, have found that the Trump administration has greatly reduced the number of Special Immigrant Visas that would allow them to safely migrate to the USA.

One former interpreter in particularly critical danger is Muhammad Kamran, who worked for the U.S. military and later the United Nations for more than 10 years. Unfortunately, when Muhammad fled Afghanistan to live in hiding in Pakistan, he lost contact information for the members of the U.S. military he had worked alongside. Unable to pursue a Special Immigrant Visa without the help of the military, Muhammad filed a refugee case on his own, only to be denied for discretionary “security reasons.” Based on one refugee officer’s opinion, an entire family has effectively been sentenced to death.

When Muhammad contacted the nonprofit organization No One Left Behind for help with his refugee case, I started trying to assist him. But his refugee case request for review had already been declined. My family and I then decided to sponsor the Kamran family for what is called humanitarian parole, and I helped Muhammad reconnect with a former Navy lieutenant, Karsten Daponte, whom he worked with in 2006 in Afghanistan and is strongly supporting his case.