06/06/2026
“What Justice Means To Me”
Dear KOP supporters,
During a hearing before Congress this past week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is accepting white South Africans while continuing to block Afghans who served the U.S., or whose families served the U.S., because the South Africans can supposedly "quickly assimilate."
Rubio told Congress:
"Everything we do has to be geared by the national interest."
It is in our national interest if we are allowing people to enter our country ... be people who can quickly assimilate into society and be successful."
But if assimilation, success, and the national interest are truly the standard, then there may be no group that has earned the right to come to America more than Afghan and Iraqi Special Immigrant Visa applicants.
These men and women are not strangers to the United States.
They served alongside American soldiers, diplomats, aid workers, and intelligence personnel during two decades of war. They translated for our troops, guarded our bases, worked in our embassies, supported our missions, and risked their lives because they believed in America's promise, and they fought to change their country, which we then abandoned. There was no "Marshal Plan" for Afghanistan.
Many were threatened by the Taliban and ISIL precisely because they chose to stand with us.
The Special Immigrant Visa program exists because Congress recognized that America has both a moral obligation and a strategic interest in protecting those who protected us.
And when these allies arrive, they succeed.
Here in Monroe County, New York, 61 Special Immigrant Visa families have purchased homes since 2018. Their children are attending college and pursuing careers as attorneys, engineers, doctors, dentists, teachers, and business owners. They pay taxes, buy homes, volunteer in their communities, and contribute to our economy.
They are not a burden.
They are living proof that America's investment in its allies pays dividends for generations.
More importantly, this issue is about more than economics or assimilation statistics.
It is about whether the United States keeps its word.
If America abandons the people who risked their lives for our military and diplomatic missions, what message does that send to future allies in the next conflict? Why would anyone trust American promises if they see that loyalty is not returned?
The national interest is not simply measured by how quickly someone learns English or adapts to American culture.
The national interest is measured by whether the United States remains a country whose word means something.
I want to share with you what an SIV's daughter, who is in the 8th grade, recently wrote for a school project entitled "What Justice Means to Me."
Her name is Bita. She has been in the United States for 11 months.
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"What Justice Means to Me."
By Bita J.
"In Afghanistan, my home country, there were many rules. But those rules weren’t justice; they were a cage.
Under the Taliban, the law dictated that my education was a crime and my voice was a sin.
To me, justice is the difference between a rule that holds you down and a law that protects your right to rise.
When my family and I arrived in the United States, justice stopped being a scary word and started sounding like music.
Today, I sit in the eighth grade as one of the top students in my school.
I have the freedom to play the trombone -a big, shiny, brassy instrument- and join the school band.
To me, justice looks like the "A"s on my report card and the weight of that instrument in my hands. When I push the slide to hit a bold note, I am reclaiming the voice that was once forbidden.
Justice means that your gender or birthplace should not determine the ceiling of your dreams. It is the guarantee that everyone has the right to become their best version in a respectful, peaceful manner.
It is not simply the rule of law, since laws can be dictated by blind-minded rulers; true justice is the guarantee that your potential is limited only by your imagination.
Now, when I hit a perfect note or ace an exam, I am no longer a whisper in the dark; I am a melody in the light. Justice is being able to call a land home and knowing that home will value your potential and allow you to shine."
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That is what America offered this young woman.
That is what Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders believed in when they stood beside our troops and our diplomats.
And that is why welcoming our wartime allies is not an act of charity.
It is an act of honor.
A nation that keeps its promises is stronger, safer, and more respected than one that does not.
