by Aman Khalili and his family safely moved out of Afghanistan to Pakistan and then on to an undisclosed destination, after pleading for assistance from President Biden during the Taliban takeover of the country in September 2021.
The Afghan interpreter rescued then-Senator Joe Biden, along with Senators John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, when their aircraft made an emergency landing during a snow storm in 2008. Khalili, at the time going by the name Mohammed, was working as an interpreter for the U.S. Army; he and other rescuers drove for several hours through the snow and treacherous conditions to find the helicopters carrying the senators.
Khalili originally applied for a Special Immigrant Visa, but the relevant paperwork got lost. He and 200 other Afghani citizens were considered to be “at-risk” of targeted retaliation by the new regime in their country. The rescue was a partnership between the State Department and the Human First Coalition.
