The US promised thousands of foreign interpreters special immigrant visas. Now they’re trapped.

Last Tuesday night was rough for Muhammad Kamran. The electricity in the house in Pakistan where he and his family are hiding was cut, and he estimates it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit that night. His four young daughters were too hot to sleep and kept crying. But their crying could put the family in danger, so Kamran spent the night fanning each of his girls with a book, trying to get them cool enough to sleep.

He was lucky to share the night with his children. Kamran, a former interpreter for the United States Army, fled with his family from his native Afghanistan due to threats from both the Taliban and villagers. The threats were related to his work with the US. The family now lives illegally and in constant fear of being discovered and sent back to Afghanistan, where Kamran believes they would face near-certain death. Sometimes he has to sleep in the desert to avoid police raids, bribes and beatings.