Fact Checking Jake Sullivan claim Trump admin didn't process Afghan visas for a year

During a press briefing Monday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan suggested a slowdown in approvals for the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program during the Trump administration contributed to the current delays in evacuating Afghans.

"When we took office in January, the Trump administration had not processed a single Special Immigrant Visa since March of 2020, in nearly a year," Sullivan said.

Between March 2020 and the end of December 2020, at least 523 Afghan Special Immigrant Visas were issued.

The White House told CNN that Sullivan was referring to the Trump administration stopping in-person interviews in Kabul, which is a mandated part of the SIV process.

The report on the status of the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Program for the quarter ending in December 2020 noted, "There were relatively few interviews this quarter because U.S. Embassy Kabul was closed for in-person visa services due to the prevalence of COVID-19 in Afghanistan. In all nine cases, the applicants requested to have their interview conducted at an alternate post."

"President Trump also oversaw a substantial reduction in the issuance of those visas compared to President Obama," Bates told CNN. "I suppose that's not strictly relevant to an 'evacuation' but the program protects people who are under threat for their service to the U.S. mission and fewer visas issued means fewer U.S. allies and their families have a pathway to safety." However, the Biden administration is not entirely blameless, as experts say they could have addressed the delays sooner.

As of August 24, the State Department issued a statement that "All immigrant visa appointments, including Special Immigrant Visas, at the Embassy have been cancelled," but clarified that, in addition to U.S. citizens, their "Efforts are devoted to evacuations at Hamid Karzai International Airport" particularly for "Our locally employed staff; personnel from partner nations and international organizations with whom we have agreements; Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders and applicants; certain immigrant visa applicants; Afghans who would be eligible for P1/P2 refugee programs; and certain Afghans at risk."

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