El American
By. Sabrina Martin Rondon and Edgar Beltrán

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The Taliban is holding a group of Americans in Afghanistan hostage and Joe Biden’s administration is still not reporting what is going on, Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) told El American.

Last Tuesday, Sept. 7, Secretary of State Antony Blinken had denied that the Taliban was holding Americans hostage in Kabul, however, Rep. Garcia told El American that he is “addressing” the situation and anticipates that the Democratic administration is not doing something to resolve it.

“The fact is that this administration is not allowing certain flights to leave the country or go to third countries right now, which is making this even more difficult. We are facing a hostage situation right now with Americans stranded in various places and this administration, at this point, I don’t even think they are negotiating with the Taliban to let people go home, but if they did they don’t have any leverage,” Garcia said in an exclusive interview with El American.

The representative — who from his office has collaborated in the evacuation of 101 people in Afghanistan — said that the bureaucracy of the State Department prevents all Americans, permanent residents, and those who obtained special visas, from returning to the United States.

Americans in Afghanistan are being allegedly held hostage by the Taliban
The Biden administration has expressed its ignorance about the case. In fact, it seems that the government itself has its doubts: “It’s my understanding that the Taliban has not denied exit to anyone holding a valid document, but they have said those without valid documents, at this point, can’t leave,” Blinken said last week.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) claimed to have received classified reports that Americans and Afghan allies were stranded at the Mazar-e Sharif airport.

“This really … turning into a hostage situation where they’re not going to allow American citizens leave until they get full recognition from the United States of America,” McCaul charged.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) also claimed that “hundreds of citizens” are effectively being held hostage in Afghanistan.

“The Congress shouldn’t wait one more day for this administration to inform the nation how many Americans it knows are in Afghanistan and the immediate plan to return them safely to their country,” he said.