Maloney Helps Local Veteran Secure Visa for His Iraqi Interpreter

Newburgh, NY — After years of working to secure a visa for the Iraqi interpreter who aided his unit while he served in Iraq, former Army Sergeant Vincent Lang worked alongside Representative Sean Patrick Maloney to finally guarantee his interpreter’s safe immigration to the United States. Many interpreters who assisted American servicemembers during the Iraq War are in danger of retribution from extremists, leading many of them to flee the war-torn country.

“Sergeant Lang’s interpreter did everything he could to help our guys in Iraq, and we need to turn around and make sure we do the same for him,” said Rep. Maloney. “I’m glad we could work with Vinny to get the red tape out of the way and help Dodex get to the U.S.”

“After hearing what happened to some of our translators, we knew we owed it to them to keep their families safe,” said former Sergeant Vincent Lang, who now serves as an officer with the New York Police Department. “His family became my family over there – we celebrated holidays and shared meals – and I’m just glad they’re finally all out of harm’s way.”  

Sergeant Vincent Lang served in Iraq from 2003-2004. Sergeant Lang was stationed in a town called Hilla, outside of Babylon, and tasked with retraining guards at a prison. His interpreter, nicknamed “Dodex,” was hired by a now-defunct private company to serve as an interpreter for American forces in the region. Since the company no longer exists, securing proof of his assistance to American servicemembers has been difficult for Dodex and the handful of veterans who are committed to providing him help getting into the country. Since 2004, Lang has kept in touch with Dodex via email and social media and has reached out to a number of officials for help cutting through red tape at the State Department.

Sergeant Lang reached out to Rep. Maloney’s office after progress on obtaining the visa had stopped. Rep. Maloney’s office pressed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the State Department in Washington to work with Lang to assemble the relevant paperwork. Dodex has since obtained a visa and immigrated safely to the United States.

Since 2007, the State Department has issued over 1,700 Special Immigrant Visas to Iraqi interpreters who aided American troops during the Iraq War. Many of the interpreters still in Iraq fear for their lives because of the help they provided to American servicemembers. Rep. Maloney was critical of President Trump’s “Muslim Ban” in January because it would have barred people from Iraq from coming to the United States – including Iraqi interpreters. The ban was eventually thrown out by the courts.