On January 27, 2017 President Donald Trump issued an executive order freezing the refugee resettlement program from seven predominantly Muslim countries, in an effort by the new administration to improve national security. But many with special visas, as well as those waiting on visas, were denied entry to the United States as a result. Among those were Iraqi interpreters banned despite services to American troops during the Iraqi War.
Iraqi Interpreters Banned Under New Immigration Policy
According to the new administration, the executive order was meant to allow a review of the current refugee resettlement program and implementation of a stricter vetting system for immigrants and refugees in the interest of improving national security.
Travelers from the seven predominantly Muslim nations affected by the immigration ban – Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Libya – were held up at various U.S. airports. Among them, Iraqi interpreters banned from entering the U.S. as they were holders of, or still in the process of receiving, Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) for the service to the U.S. in the Iraqi war. Although the ban has been temporarily restrained, and the hold on interpreters has been lifted, there is still an unsure future for Iraqis with Special Immigrant Visas allowing them refugee status, as well as those whose status is pending.
The Role of Iraqi Interpreters in the War
Following their service during the 2003 – 2011 U.S. occupation of Iraq, the lives of Iraqi interpreters and their families, remain at great risk. Several nonprofit organizations, such as No One Left Behind, as well as many former soldiers, have strongly advocated bringing these former interpreters to the United States on Special Immigrant Visas – which refers to their special situation as an urgent call for refugee status.
These interpreters played a crucial role during the war, helping soldiers to navigate strategy as well as communicate with locals, inevitably saving many lives. Moreover, being native Iraqi Arabic language speakers, along with their knowledge of local dialects and customs, they provided communication and information at critical times, Those who worked closely with them have advocated to bring them to the United States where their lives will no longer be in danger, and many have asked that their families who are also at risk be included under refugee status.
On February 1, 2017, the Trump administration amended the visa ban to allow entry of Iraqi interpreters who served the U.S. government and military forces deployed in their country. As of now, Iraqi Special Immigrant Visa holders are allowed to travel and applications for such visas will continue to be processed.
Languages of Iraq
Among the predominant languages spoken in Iraq is of course Arabic, which is a Semitic language with about 221 million speakers and spoken in over 27 countries. There are, however, over 30 different varieties of spoken Arabic. Although they are mutually intelligible, similar to British versus American English, these differences must be still addressed.
There are several variations of Iraqi Arabic spoken in different parts of the country by different ethnic and religious groups. For example, the Bagdadi dialect differs from the Moslawi dialect (spoken primarily in the city Mosul located in Northern Iraq), and both differ from Tikriti Iraqi Arabic (spoken primarily in the city of Tikrit which is located north of Baghdad but south of Mosul).
Moreover, Arabic speakers in Kurdish areas speak a different variety of Arabic, especially noticeable in pronunciation. Kurdish is predominantly spoken in the northeastern region of Iraq where there is a large Kurdish population. The Kurdish language differs from Arabic both in origin, as well as culturally, since Kurds themselves originate from Iran. Other dominant languages spoken in Iraq include Turkmen, Assyrian, Armenian, and Aramaic. This cultural and ethnic diversity ultimately imposes further linguistic challenges both with those communicating in Iraq, and those abroad.
The complexity of communicating in a country where, depending on the region, different languages or dialects may dominate, only further demonstrates the important role that professional interpreting services and Iraqi interpreters played during the war when communication was an issue of life and death for American soldiers. As of now the Iraqi interpreters banned under the original policy seem to have avoided the hold.
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