The Biden administration on Wednesday began notifying governors about how many Afghan refugees would be resettled within their states from the first batch of 37,000 evacuees.
The administration plans to resettle 65,000 Afghans by the end of September, and 30,000 more by September 2022.
While the Associated Press first reported on the numbers, Axios presented the data more clearly.
37,000 Afghan refugees to start new lives across U.S., headed to 46 states https://t.co/5j39U5HWgJ
— Jon Cooper ???? (@joncoopertweets) September 16, 2021
NEW: Among the first group of nearly 37,000 of Afghan evacuees coming to the United States, more than 5,200 are projected to resettle in California, 4,481 in Texas, 1,800 in Oklahoma, 1,679 in Washington and 1,166 in Virginia. https://t.co/pud6X2BNjw
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) September 15, 2021
California and Texas will receive the most, while Hawaii, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia will not receive anyone from the first group.
Many of the new evacuees requested to be resettled in those states because they already have family and close friends living in those states, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the calls to state government officials. Resettlement agencies also have a large presence and capacity in many of those states.
The State Department resettled evacuees based on the advice of local affiliates of nine national resettlement agencies the U.S. government is working with, the officials said.
The officials said Afghan evacuees are advised that other parts of the country -- including areas with plentiful job openings and cheaper housing -- could be good places to begin their new lives in the U.S. (Associated Press)
Those Afghan refugees 12 and older are required to get the Covid-19 vaccine "as a term of their humanitarian parolee status after entering the country," in addition to a health screening. But in Northern Virginia, there have already been cases of measles reported among the migrants. Flights have been suspended for Afghan refugees waiting in third countries as a result.
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