The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently announced all Afghan nationals have departed from all domestic U.S. military bases as part of Operation Allies Welcome.
As of Feb. 19, the last remaining Afghan nationals in the U.S., located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, have been relocated to communities across the nation.
"At the president’s direction, the Department of Homeland Security has proudly served as the lead federal agency coordinating Operation Allies Welcome, a whole-of-society effort to help vulnerable Afghans," Robert J. Fenton Jr., senior response official for Operation Allies Welcome said in a news release. "Over the last six months, thousands of federal staff, servicemembers and volunteers have dedicated their time and effort to ensuring all of our Afghan allies could successfully join new communities in the United States."
The federal government coordinated the transfer of domestic safe haven operations from Department of Defense installations to a single non-DOD domestic facility.
In total, approximately 84,600 Afghan nationals, American citizens and lawful permanent residents have arrived in the U.S. through Operation Allies Welcome.
As part of the Operation Allies Welcome program, Afghan evacuees must undergo a comprehensive screening and vetting process along with receiving age-appropriate vaccinations before entering the country.
