On February 19, evacuees from Afghanistan left a U.S. military base and began to settle across the country in their newly-founded communities. Meanwhile, a group of volunteers continues to help individuals who remain stranded in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
According to a press release from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) is an organization created by the Biden Administration, made up of over 250 nonprofits, federal agencies, private businesses, and state and local resettlement affiliates.
OAW is run by George and Laura Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Barack and Michelle Obama. This organization has temporarily housed over 76,000 Afghan nationals while helping them navigate immigration processing, locate employment, and build new communities.
For the past 20 years, many Afghan nationals who have worked with U.S. civic or military agencies as support personnel and translators during the Taliban takeover have become refugees. The OAW has assisted them in entering the U.S.
According to The Portland Press Herald, OAW operated out of eight U.S. military bases, where biographic and biometric screenings of the refugees were conducted by law enforcement and intelligence and counterterrorism professionals. After health screenings, the OAW also administered age-appropriate vaccines, including for COVID-19.
As of last week, all Afghan refugees from the bases have settled into their forever homes. The largest number of refugees from all of the bases was housed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington County, New Jersey. A total of 14,500 refugees from the base have now moved into Afghan communities.
Around 40% of that group were children, who were able to continue receiving their education in schools established on the base.
According to OAW Senior Response Official Robert J. Fenton Jr., volunteers and service members have been aiding in the cause for the past several months, after the Taliban began to take over in Kabul last August.
U.S. Northern Commander General Glen VanHerck stated, “I commend the service members and the entire team for their outstanding work thus far. From the beginning, across each of the eight task forces on DOD (Department of Defense) installations, our service members and interagency teammates have embraced this important mission and have had an immense impact.”
Nancy Izzo Jackson, senior bureau official for the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, said, “Thanks to their dedication, and that of countless staff, volunteers, and community sponsors across the country, we are proud to have served the largest number of new arrivals at one time in over fifty years, and will remain steadfast in our commitment to serving those in need.”
Most of the newly-built Afghan communities are located in northern Virginia, surrounding Washington areas, Northern California, and Texas. Groups ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 refugees are located in states including Pennsylvania, New York, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, and Florida.
According to the DHS, though Afghan refugees will continue to arrive in the U.S., from now on they will do so in smaller groups. The housing arrangements at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst will remain open temporarily until a new safe haven is up and running.
According to Loudoun Now News, the new safe haven may be established in Loudoun County, Virginia. A public meeting was held on February 24 to speak to the county’s residents about running the operation there from March until September.
The county estimates 1,000 refugees per month could be temporarily housed at their National Conference Center during processing.
County Chair Phyllis J. Randall shared, “[The refugees] are our allies and family members of American citizens and lawful permanent residents. Because they are allies of the U.S., they and their families cannot return to their home country without high risk of being killed by the Taliban, who are now in power.” According to Randall, 65% of the refugees are women and children.
Meanwhile, the United Press International (UPI) reported that a group of private citizens and American veterans have taken it upon themselves to form a task force to rescue U.S. citizens and qualifying Lawful Permanent Residents from Afghanistan.
Task Force Argo has been evacuating Afghan nationals — even some who do not qualify for U.S. citizenship but whose lives would be at risk if they stayed in a Taliban-run country, such as journalists and female educators. Through the use of private charter planes, the task force has transported 2,663 individuals to U.S. soil.
Jesse Jensen is the organization’s co-president and a veteran who served 2 years in combat in Afghanistan.
In an interview with UPI, Jensen stated, “The State Department wasn’t even aware of the total number of Americans and qualifying immigrant visa holders stuck in Afghanistan.”
According to Jensen, Task Force Argo’s operations are an effort to respect and honor the promise the United States made to protect its allies, but they cannot get full support from the U.S. State Department.
However, Stephen Miller, who worked on Former President Trump’s immigration restrictions, said the United States never promised Afghan nationals entry.
“Contrary to what you’ve been hearing recently, we have been removing people from the country under special immigrant visa status ever since the program was first authorized, shortly after the war started. Most of the translators that we’ve worked with and most of the government operators we’ve worked with, who wanted to leave and who meet the conditions for the program, already have left,” Miller said, per Politico.
There are also mixed feelings among conservative officials about OAW and its vetting process. Officials believe that Afghan nationals who worked alongside the U.S. military during the war should have access to America but are concerned it risks terrorists entering the country as well.
Mark Morgan, former Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection under Trump, shared his distrust of the Biden Administration’s vetting process for Afghan refugees in an interview with The National Desk.
“They were more concerned about political optics, to say, ‘Look at everything we’re doing,’ and they risk importing a terrorist into the country,” he said.
