No One Left Behind recently met with the U.S. Department of State to advocate for the many ‘blacklisted’ interpreters. A blacklisted interpreter is one who has been rejected from receiving or applying for an SIV due to:
- Having been terminated for cause,
- Being security ineligible,
- Failing a security review, or
- Failing the CI polygraph.
We know many of these cases have been incorrectly classified and some of the most deserving interpreters have been unjustly left behind. We met with the Department of State to discuss possible solutions to this issue.
One such possible solution emerged from that meeting. If you are among the blacklisted interpreters, you must submit to the SIV program (along with your initial application or as part of your appeal) a signed recommendation letter with the full and current contact information (including personal email address) for your closest American supervisor AT THE TIME YOU WERE TERMINATED, FAILED A SECURITY REVIEW OR WERE FOUND TO BE SECURITY INELIGIBLE. Again, this letter needs to be from an American who was working with you AT THE TIME the issue, whichever it was, occurred. This person’s recommendation letter should address your service and explain, to whatever extent possible, why your rejection was incorrect. It also MUST include their CURRENT contact information:
- First and last name
- Branch, unit, rank
- Email address (personal email address)
- Phone number and physical address if possible
To get legal information from the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), visit: www.irapLegalinfo.org
Reposted from original source: http://nooneleft.org/2017/05/02/4032/
Original post date: May 2nd, 2017.