Three American citizens left Afghanistan this week despite the suspension of U.S. government flights last month, according to one member of a San Diego congressional delegation working on the evacuations.
In a pair of news releases, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Bonsall, said this week a couple in their 80s and a pregnant woman were able to leave the country with the assistance of his staff.
“This is a cause for celebration and the result of almost countless hours of work under very difficult conditions,” Issa said in a statement announcing the couple’s escape on Wednesday.
The couple, whose names were withheld for security reasons, tried for weeks to get through Taliban checkpoints, the statement said. Their granddaughter reached out to the congressman’s district office. Both are residents of the 50th District, the statement said.
On Friday, Issa announced another American citizen, Nasria, 25, had also left Afghanistan. Nasria, who is pregnant, is the 34th person Issa’s office has helped escape the country, according to its statements.
“Weeks of work and countless hours of coordination paid off,” Issa said in a statement. Nasria, who is described as a Southern California resident, had to leave Afghanistan without the father of her child, whom she’d married there.
Jonathan Wilcox, a spokesman for Issa, declined to comment on the methods by which Nasria and the couple were able to leave Afghanistan but said everything was done via official government channels. Wilcox said that while Issa’s efforts have been via those official channels in the departments of Homeland Security, Defense and the White House, in each case the congressman had to personally advocate for action.
Six El Cajon families are among those Issa’s office helped return to the U.S. Leaving the country has been much more difficult since the withdrawal of U.S. military forces on Aug. 31, however, Wilcox said. The office is still working on dozens of cases, he said.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “Every (successful) case seems like a miracle to me.”
Issa is the only Republican among San Diego’s five-person congressional delegation. The four Democrats have also worked to assist in the evacuation, their offices previously told the Union-Tribune.
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