Full List of 16 Republicans Who Voted Against Visas for Afghans Who Helped U.S. Troops

With the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan and troops deployed to help evacuate U.S. personnel and Afghans who assisted coalition forces, attention has turned on the visa system for those who helped U.S. forces.

The U.S. has already evacuated 2,000 people under the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program. That program has capacity for 34,500 more applicants, but this may not be enough.

On July 22, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to provide 8,000 more visas under the SIV program for Afghan interpreters, contractors and other U.S. allies who may be vulnerable as the Taliban seizes the country.

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The House voted in favor of the resolution H.R. 3985, introduced by Representative Jason Crow, by 407 votes to 16.

All the "nay" votes were Republicans and the bill was sent to the Senate, though it has yet to be passed by that chamber.

The Republicans who voted against the resolution were: Andy Biggs of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Bob Good of Virginia, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Jody Hice of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Barry Moore of Alabama, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Bill Posey of Florida, Matthew Rosendale of Montana and Chip Roy of Texas.

Jason Crow, who is a Democrat representing Colorado's 6th congressional district, spoke about the resolution on July 22.

"Some members of this body, including me, may not be here today without the service and self-sacrifice of Afghans who answered the call to serve shoulder to shoulder with us," Crow said.

H.R. 3985 would create 8,000 new SIVs and also expand eligibility to include the family members of applicants who have been killed and Afghans who have worked with certain nongovernmental organizations and who may now be facing persecution but who would not have qualified previously.

When reached for comment by Newsweek on Tuesday, Representative Roy's office pointed to a statement issued on July 22 that noted Roy had voted against the resolution because of a Democratic amendment that "raises serious questions and concerns by broadening the categories for SIV eligibility to include individuals that never directly assisted the U.S. government and weakening the standards of the program."

"I likely would have voted for the underlying bill, however a Manager's Amendment added language to the bill that I ultimately could not support," Roy said on the House floor at the time.

"That amendment 'expands the program to include nonprofits and grantees, private organizations that contributed to the United States mission in Afghanistan.' We don't know who would be included," he said.

Representative Rosendale's office pointed Newsweek to a statement he issued on Afghanistan on Monday.

"The total collapse of the Afghan government is the result of decades of failure and deception by the bipartisan foreign policy elite, which is even now trying to reverse the correct decision to withdraw American troops," Rosendale's statement said.

The statement went on to say the withdrawal was "catastrophically mismanaged" but "this does not change the basic fact that it was the right decision."

"The chaos we're seeing is not an excuse to flood our country with refugees from Afghanistan," Rosendale said.

A spokesperson for Representative DesJarlais told Newsweek on Tuesday: "Congressman DesJarlais supports bringing in interpreters and allies that assisted us in the war effort.

"However, there is concern about the broad net being cast by the Biden administration that will surely let potential terrorists slip through the cracks. Rep. DesJarlais would like to see a better vetting plan in place before the United States starts bringing 40,000 to 60,000 Afghans and their families to our country."

Representative Massie told Newsweek on Tuesday: "The program to extend visas to those who helped our military already exists and I support that program. The vote on the new measure was to greatly expand the number of visas and to include categories of people who did not help us in the war, while simultaneously reducing the vetting of these immigrants."

The Biden administration is now in the process of evacuating SIV applicants from Afghanistan. The Department of Defense's evacuation efforts are being led by Garry Reid, director of Defense Intelligence.

Reid told a press conference at the Pentagon on Monday that the DOD has plans to evacuate 20,000 to 22,000 additional SIV applicants, possibly to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and Fort Bliss in Texas.

"There may be other sites identified if services are needed, if additional capacity is needed," Reid said. "As with the operation we've been supporting at Fort Lee [Virginia], persons that come to these locations will have been pre-screened by the Department of Homeland Security to enter on condition of full immigration processing once they arrive."

Newsweek has asked the representatives who voted against H.R. 3985 for comment.

UPDATE 08/17/21 10.55 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a statement from Representative Thomas Massie.

UPDATE 08/17/21 10.06 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include statements from Representatives Chip Roy, Matthew Rosendale and Scott DesJarlais.