N.M. awaits Afghan refugees
Some of 1,200 brought to U.S. will stay at El Paso base, others may go to Holloman Air Force Base
New Mexico officials said Tuesday they were waiting for more information from the federal government about the number of Afghan refugees who are expected to arrive in the state, and when and where they will settle. The news comes after thousands of Afghans crowded into U.S. military planes in recent days, leaving Kabul, Afghanistan, following its fall to the Taliban. Afghans have begun arriving stateside, where they are being routed to military bases around the country — including at least one in New Mexico.
U.S. planes evacuated about 10,400 people from Kabul between Sunday and Monday, the U.S. State Department said. According to agency’s news briefing Monday, the nation has evacuated or facilitated the evacuation of nearly 42,000 people from Afghanistan since the end of July.
The State Department said the Fort Bliss Army Base in El Paso is one of four military installations that have begun receiving some of the 1,200 Afghans who arrived in the U.S. in the past few days. Refugees are being housed at the base’s Doña Ana Range Complex, which straddles Doña Ana and Otero counties in New
Mexico, numerous reports said. The base did not respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday.
ABC News reported late Tuesday an “internal government report” indicated refugees arriving at the Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., might be transported to Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state House Speaker Brian Egolf wrote to President Joe Biden last week, saying the state stood ready to help resettle displaced Afghans. But Lujan Grisham’s office was unable to provide any details this week how many could be coming into the state.
U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell, a New Mexico Republican, criticized the governor’s invitation.
“Our government should be laser-focused on getting every American out of Afghanistan,” she wrote Tuesday in an email provided by her spokesman.
“Governor Lujan Grisham, not content with throwing our southern border open to illegal immigration and criminal cartels, has asked Joe Biden to fly thousands of foreign nationals into New Mexico without the consent or consultation of our families, communities, and local governments,” she added.
“While we should honor promises to help those who worked with our Armed Forces in Afghanistan, to jump directly to the resettlement of countless unvetted Afghan nationals in New Mexico while thousands of Americans remain trapped behind Taliban lines is shameful and irresponsible,” Herrell’s statement continued.
Her communications director, Billy Gribbin, wrote in an email that Herrell “is focused on getting all Americans who are trapped in Afghanistan back home safely. Her staff has been connecting New Mexican constituents and family members in Afghanistan with the State Department to coordinate their safe return, as well as working with the GOP caucus to ensure that information is being shared with private entities who are equipped to assist in evacuation efforts. Rep. Herrell’s office has also assisted non-citizens in escaping Afghanistan. Any new New Mexicans who need help should reach to Rep. Herrell’s office as soon as possible.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury also has encouraged New Mexicans who need assistance evacuating family members from Afghanistan to contact her.
However, her office was unable to provide details regarding the number of incoming refugees.
“I think the problem is federal agencies aren’t making these numbers public yet due to a constantly changing situation,” Stansbury’s communications director, Julia Friedmann, wrote in an email Tuesday. “I’m sure we’ll be able to have a better sense of what’s happening while the situation evolves. The focus right now is making sure we can evacuate as many people as possible — Americans and Afghan allies‚ and so that’s the bulk of where resources and personnel are.”
Jeff Hall, the economic development programs director for Lutheran Family Services, said the organization — the primary provider of refugee resettlement services in New Mexico — is poised to help anyone who arrives by providing assistance with language skills, housing and employment.
But, he said, Lutheran so far has received no specific information on the number of refugees who may be routed to New Mexico. It has heard only that planes were dropping evacuees off at Fort Bliss.
“Beyond that, nothing,” he said. “It’s still a developing situation. We’re getting updates by the day, if not by the hour.”
New Mexico took in 17 refugees between October and July, according to the Refugee Processing Center operated by the State Department. Of those, six came from Afghanistan — one in February and five in July — and 11 came from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
New Mexico received 27 refugees between October 2019 and September 2020, according to the processing center, two from the Central African Republic and 25 from the Democratic Republic of Congo.