Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Last Afghan Refugees Leave NJ Base After Chaotic Evacuation
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
February 23, 2022

Share

 

The last of thousands of Afghan refugees who awaited resettlement at eight U.S. military installations departed Saturday from a base in New Jersey, completing a journey that started with the chaotic evacuation from Kabul in August.

With assistance from refugee resettlement organizations, Afghans evacuated after their country fell to the Taliban have been gradually leaving the military bases in recent months and starting new lives in communities throughout the United States.

Largest U.S. Resettlement in Decades

The U.S. admitted 76,000 Afghans as part of Operation Allies Welcome, the largest resettlement of refugees in the country in decades.

“It’s a really important milestone in Operation Allies Welcome but I want to stress that this mission isn’t over,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of nine national resettlement organizations that were part of the effort.

Afghans still in their country but facing danger under Taliban rule as well as those who have made it to the United States will still need assistance, Vignarajah said.

“Successful resettlement and integration won’t happen in just a matter of days or weeks,” she said. “Our new Afghan neighbors are going to need our support and friendship for months and years to come because the challenges they face won’t disappear overnight.”

The U.S. plans to admit thousands of Afghan refugees over the next year but they will arrive in smaller groups and will be housed in a facility at a location yet to be determined, the Department of Homeland Security said.

Housing facilities for refugees at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in central New Jersey will remain open in the interim, the agency said. The base held the largest number of Afghans, reaching a peak of 14,500. The next largest was at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, where the last group departed this past week.

Afghans Housed at Bases for Months

Afghans underwent immigration processing and health screening while they waited at the bases, often for months, until the strained refugee organizations could place them in communities. The government set up schools for the children who made up about 40 percent of the refugees at the New Jersey base.

Resettlement organizations and Homeland Security, the lead federal agency in the effort, had set a goal of having everyone off the bases by Feb. 15. It was a challenge because of the scarcity of affordable housing, cutbacks to refugee programs under President Donald Trump and the sheer number of refugees.

Most of the refugees have settled in established Afghan communities in northern Virginia and the surrounding Washington area, as well as Northern California and Texas.

States where between 1,000 and 3,000 have settled include Arizona, New York, Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Nebraska and Pennsylvania, according to State Department data obtained by The Associated Press.

Advocates Pushing Congress for Permanent Residency

DHS has previously said about 40 percent of the Afghans will qualify for the special immigrant visa for people who worked as military interpreters or for the U.S. government in some other capacity during America’s longest war.

Most of the rest, however, do not yet have permanent legal residency in the U.S. because they did not come under a refugee program but were admitted under a type of emergency federal authorization known as humanitarian parole.

Advocates for the refugees, including a number of prominent veterans groups, are pressing Congress to provide permanent residency with an “Afghan adjustment act,” similar to what has been done in the past for Cubans and Iraqis.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Supermom Carmi Is Ready to Be Embraced by Her Forever Family

DON'T MISS

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

DON'T MISS

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

DON'T MISS

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

DON'T MISS

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

DON'T MISS

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

DON'T MISS

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

DON'T MISS

Bredefeld, Smittcamp Debate the Salary of Valley Children’s CEO

DON'T MISS

CA’s Liberal Government Has a Long History of Caving to Special Interests

DON'T MISS

Corrupt Process? Bullard, Edison Parents Blast Handling of Superintendent Search

No data was found

Wired Wednesday: How Going to Work for Trump Turned Devin Nunes Into a Millionaire

16 hours ago

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

17 hours ago

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

18 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

18 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

19 hours ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

19 hours ago

Bredefeld, Smittcamp Debate the Salary of Valley Children’s CEO

19 hours ago

CA’s Liberal Government Has a Long History of Caving to Special Interests

19 hours ago

Corrupt Process? Bullard, Edison Parents Blast Handling of Superintendent Search

19 hours ago

Police Had About 90 Seconds to Stop Traffic Before Baltimore Bridge Fell. 6 Workers Are Feared Dead

21 hours ago

Tonight’s Biden Fundraiser With Obama and Clinton Already Nets a Record $25 Million

WASHINGTON — A fundraiser for President Joe Biden on Thursday in New York City that also stars Barack Obama and Bill Clinton is raising a wh...

13 mins ago

13 mins ago

Tonight’s Biden Fundraiser With Obama and Clinton Already Nets a Record $25 Million

Animals /
4 hours ago

Supermom Carmi Is Ready to Be Embraced by Her Forever Family

12 hours ago

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

Composite image of President Trump and Devin Nunes
16 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: How Going to Work for Trump Turned Devin Nunes Into a Millionaire

17 hours ago

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

18 hours ago

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

18 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

19 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend