The U.S. State Department asked the Pentagon to provide a temporary initial location to house up to 2,500 Afghan citizens as part of the "Operation Allies Refuge" program. DoD recommended Fort Lee, Va., as the first site, according to Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby. For 20 years, Afghan nationals have lent assistance to U.S. military operations. With operations ending Aug. 31, the U.S. has made plans to move those civilians and families to locations under special immigrant visa (SIV) applications. This initial group - about 700 Afghans and 1,800 family members - are in the final stages of the SIV process. Kirby says he expects the group would only be at Fort Lee for a few days before being resettled elsewhere in the U.S., Kirby said. The Army at Fort Lee will provide food, and medical care (if needed), he said. All the Afghans coming to the U.S. will be medically screened before boarding planes. (Source: DoD 07/20/21) In the DoD news article, there was no mention of permanent U.S. re-location sites. Incidentally, Fort Lee is among the bases being considered for renaming. It was named for CSA Gen. Robert E. Lee.
UPDATE: The first flight of evacuating Afghan interpreters and others (221 overall) who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan landed early July 30 at Washington Dulles International Airport, according to an internal U.S. government document and a commercial flight tracking service. Among the 221 were 57 children and 15 babies, according to the document obtained by The Associated Press.
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