Pentagon Confirms Evacuated Afghans Being Sent to Texas, Wisconsin, Virginia

The Defense Department has confirmed that Afghans evacuated from Afghanistan, and applying for visas to the United States, will be sent to U.S. military bases in Texas, Wisconsin, and Virginia.

For days, reports had circulated that the roughly 22,000 Afghans that President Joe Biden’s administration plans to bring to the U.S. would first be sent to military bases in a number of states.

On Tuesday, Defense Department official Gary Reed confirmed to the Texas Tribune that the thousands of Afghans applying for visas will be sent to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and Fort McCoy in Monroe County, Wisconsin, in addition to Fort Lee in Prince George County, Virginia.

“There may be other sites identified if services are needed, additional capacity is needed,” Reed said and suggested the administration “can expand if we need to” the number of Afghans being resettled in the U.S. above the 22,000 estimate.

The Afghans will temporarily stay at the three military bases, as they apply for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), P-1 visas, and P-2 visas, before eventually being resettled in American communities.

Nine refugee contractors — who have a vested interest in ensuring as many refugees are resettled across the U.S. as possible because their annual federally-funded budgets are contingent on the number of refugees they resettle — will help resettle Afghans. – READ MORE