A REFUGE FOR EVACUEES
Up to 900 Afghans headed to Mass.
Massachusetts could welcome as many as 900 Afghan evacuees — the Biden administration has revealed — but nonprofits aiding with resettlement say they are still “in the dark” on the details of where they’ll live and when they’ll arrive.
“Evacuees are currently living on military bases in the U.S. and we are a little bit in the dark about when they’ll arrive here. We’ve heard of a measles outbreak, they are being vetted and vaccinated, so it could be a few weeks to a month before we start seeing arrivals,” said Diane Shohet, spokeswoman for the International Institute of New England, one of five nonprofit organizations that will help resettle evacuees.
The Biden administration began notifying states how many evacuees to expect as part of the first group of nearly 37,000 arrivals to the U.S. this week. But Gov. Charlie Baker’s office said he is still awaiting further details from the federal government.
One likely landing place is Lowell, where the largest community of Afghan refugees in New England resides.
“Many evacuated Afghans will join family members already living in Lowell and nearby communities,” Shohet said in a statement.
The Greater Lowell Community Foundation has already fired up its fundraising engines in anticipation of an influx of evacuees who will be relying on public dollars and donations.
The foundation’s board of directors seeded a fundraising drive with $25,000 on Sept. 10 and is raising money to help Afghan nationals who resettle in the area cover expenses like housing, education, food and health care, said foundation President and CEO Jay Linnehan. Donations are being accepted online at glcfoundation.org.
“Lowell is a city that’s accustomed to doing these kinds of things. We have a long history opening doors to immigrants and refugees,” Linnehan said. “This is what good communities — we’re talking about a group of folks who helped this country and us standing up now and helping them is absolutely appropriate.”
The White House has requested funding from Congress to help resettle 65,000 Afghans in the United States by the end of this month and 95,000 by September 2022, but nonprofits warn resettlement efforts are grossly underfunded.
The Afghan evacuees have not been given refugee status, making them ineligible for food stamps, cash assistance, Medicaid and other benefits typically afforded to refugees unless Congress acts.
Each Afghan evacuee is slated to receive $1,225 to help with housing, furniture, food and other expenses, which resettlement agencies say won’t come close to covering basic expenses.
IINE and other service providers have asked Baker for $12 million more in state funding to support resettlement of Afghan evacuees.
“The refugee resettlement agencies are grateful for the longtime support by leaders in Massachusetts for our immigrant residents and work,” said Jeff Thielman, IINE’s president and CEO.