Former State Department contractor writes recommendation letters for Afghans seeking asylum

It’s been more than a week since Taliban fighters took control of Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul. Since then, Tampa resident and former State Department contractor George Brooks has been flooded with messages from Afghans wanting his help. He is now working to help Afghan translators seek asylum by writing letters of recommendation for them.

"When somebody becomes close to your family and keeps you safe while you are there, how can you deny what we owe them?" Brooks asked.

In 2011, Brooks spent more than a year working in Afghanistan under a contract with the State Department through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He and his employer helped teach Afghans how to build schools and office buildings along with other infrastructure. He developed close relationships with several translators throughout his time there who are now in danger and trying to escape the violence. 

"Another fellow got wounded in his lower body trying to get through a checkpoint. He’s now communicating to me through his laptop in a hospital with his family hiding out with him," Brooks shared.

As part of the requirements, Afghans seeking asylum must have a letter of recommendation. So far, Brooks has now authored at least 15 recommendation letters for translators he used to work with.

"This is one of the moral imperatives of this age to rescue the men who helped save American lives while we were there trying to save them," Brooks commented.

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The letters are a major help that could speed up the process for many Afghans trying to get themselves and their families to safety. Brooks knows paperwork can delay the process so he's hoping the Biden administration can quickly work around it. 

"I hope they come up with creative ways to reach pockets of our refugees and a way of basically accelerating getting them out of the country and worrying about the paperwork once they're in a camp or a center where they're being processed," Brooks said.

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