"You will see the dead bodies in every street," Mahmoodi said in a phone interview from Afghanistan, where he said he's already being tracked by the Taliban. "They will slaughter us." Because of such dangers, Congress created a special visa program in 2006 for Afghans and Iraqis who worked alongside American troops in those two conflicts. But the program is backlogged and limited. It takes an average of nearly three years for Afghans' applications to be processed, in part because of the rigorous vetting involved, according to the State Department. Right now, there are about 18,000 Afghans waiting for approval – and fewer than 11,000 slots. "They're in a panic right now because there's been such a backlog of these visas," said Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a former Green Beret who served multiple tours in Afghanistan. "They're afraid they're going to be left behind and massacred."