The Biden administration had said it had a goal of resettling the tens of thousands of Afghan refugees being housed on U.S. military bases by February. It appears that goal will be met. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday that the last group of evacuees at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, had departed the base that day.
Of the eight U.S. military bases that at one point sheltered more than 76,000 people, only Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey remains open. DHS said it’s in the process of completing resettlement for the roughly 1,200 evacuees still there.
“I would like to thank the federal staff, servicemembers, volunteers, and members of the local community whose dedication was critical to the success of our mission at Fort McCoy,” Operation Allies Welcome Senior Response Official Robert Fenton said. “With the help of our partners across government and non-profit organizations, the 12,600 Afghan evacuees who were temporarily housed at Fort McCoy have now joined their new communities, and we have completed operations at seven of the eight safe haven locations.”
CNN reports that roughly 2,800 Afghans remain at third-country bases for continued processing. “When those evacuees wrap up processing, they may go to a new location in the US operated by the federal government or to their final destination, the DHS official said.” The department said that the 1,200 refugees remaining at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst “have access to a range of services, including medical care and resettlement services,” including critical vaccinations like COVID-19, “and they can apply for work authorization.”
The Biden administration had also previously announced that it was waiving immigration fees for thousands who arrived after July 30, “streamlining the processing of requests for work authorization, green cards, and associated services.”
Mark Hetfield, president of refugee resettlement agency HIAS, told CNN that resettlement progress by the Biden administration has “gone as well as it can go given how difficult the circumstances have been,” pointing to rising housing costs (and finding that housing amid quick evacuations). “The State Department has shown extraordinary flexibility in trying to welcome Afghans as best they can,” he continued.
While most families evacuated from Afghanistan are now resettled in communities across the United States, tens of thousands remain in limbo. As noted earlier this week, roughly 36,000 Afghans arrived through humanitarian parole, which allows them to more quickly come to the U.S. but does not provide a pathway to permanent status. Advocates including a former interpreters, resettlement agencies, and U.S. military veterans rallied in Washington, D.C. on Monday to urge lawmakers to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act.
“Tens of thousands of evacuees are children bright with hope, some of them with siblings born on American soil,” said Afghan-American Foundation Board Member Nadia Hashimi. “Having lost their homeland and their homes, we must ensure these children step into their new lives feeling the stable, welcoming ground beneath their feet.” Click here to send a message urging Congress to act and pass this important relief.
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