Afghan Families Move From U.S. Military Bases to Neighborhoods

This story was originally posted by Stateline, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Thousands who fled Afghanistan are leaving U.S. military bases and arriving in local communities for resettlement.

Movement out of the bases resumed after a measles outbreak delayed the resettlement of Afghans who helped the United States and fled their country, usually without time to apply for refugee status or visas. The evacuees received COVID-19 and other vaccines before being resettled.

All states are accepting some of the initial wave except Hawaii, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming, though some people in Wyoming are pushing to accept some new residents.

Some Afghan families arrived in Tallahassee, Florida, recently in need of housing and other help, and a nonprofit introduced new Afghan residents at a picnic in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this week.

A charity in Bangor, Maine, is asking to help with resettlement, in part to help reverse a population decline. Maine already is expecting 60-100 Afghan residents by next year, mostly in the Portland area. Michigan has seen the first of 1,300 new Afghan residents expected this year.

Those fleeing Afghanistan have been housed on military bases in the United States and abroad pending relocation to local communities for resettlement.