About 300 Afghan evacuees arrived this week at a Department of Homeland Security processing center in Northern Virginia whose use has been opposed by nearby residents, local and federal officials said Thursday.
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The National Conference Center, a 40-acre site in the Lansdowne area of Loudoun County, is expected to host each month as many as 1,000 Afghans who were evacuated from their native country as part of a massive airlift that started when the Taliban seized control of Kabul in August.
Hoping to ease community concerns about the operation, Loudoun County officials fielded questions Thursday about security and traffic during a Facebook live session that was much calmer than a town hall meeting last month attended by about 200 local residents.
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“The site is fully up and running,” Phyllis Randall (D), chair of the county board, said. “We do not expect any other guests to come in this week.”
Thousands more Afghans headed to D.C. area for processing
The evacuees arrived in seven buses, she said, greeted by “welcome” posters created by students at the local schools. In honor of International Women’s Day on Tuesday, the female evacuees were each given a flower, Randall said, “and they really appreciated that.”
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Most of the more than 76,000 Afghan evacuees who have been resettled across the United States were processed at military installations, which, in many cases, were not ideal for hosting so many families at a time, resulting in several families sharing tents, DHS officials said. Because many of those individuals arrived without documents, it often took several months to process them and pair them with resettlement agencies working to find them permanent homes in U.S. communities, including the Washington region.
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The use of the National Conference Center is part of a more expedited phase of U.S. resettlement efforts. Now those arriving from refugee sites in other parts of the world have already had most of their documents processed, resulting in a stay of between two and four weeks before they move to permanent homes, DHS officials said.
The evacuees to be processed at the site either helped in the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan or are female leaders, human rights activists or journalists who were evacuated because of likely retribution from the Taliban, DHS officials said.
Afghan siblings, wounded in Kabul airport bombing, seek new life in Northern Virginia
At the conference center, where families will get their own temporary homes, the evacuees will be able to apply for U.S. work authorization.
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They will also receive services, such as health care and mental health counseling, and will participate in workshops on U.S. laws and civic education, DHS officials said.
“All Afghan evacuees undergo a multilayered, rigorous screening and vetting process before arriving in the United States,” the DHS said in a statement, adding that the evacuees have received vaccinations, including for the coronavirus, and were tested for the coronavirus before being allowed to enter the United States.
“We will continue to work closely with state and local partners to ensure we can continue to resettle our Afghan allies as quickly, safely, and successfully as possible,” the DHS said in the statement.
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Some residents in the resort-style Lansdowne community have not been comforted by such assurances.
Stuck without housing, Afghan evacuees languish inside D.C.-area hotel rooms
During the town hall meeting last month, many local residents expressed frustration over not being consulted before the owners of the conference center signed a contract with DHS to host the Afghan evacuees through September. Some argued that the busloads of arriving evacuees from nearby Dulles Airport would clog traffic in the area. Others shared dark theories about the evacuees, saying that some could be criminals or terrorists and that their presence at the conference center, a short walk from two schools, posed a risk to the community.
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DHS officials have said there will be guards posted at the entrances and that the Afghans will not be allowed to leave during their stay, while no one from the outside will be allowed inside without permission. Additionally, the county sheriff’s department will beef up its patrol of the area, particularly at the schools, Randall said during Thursday’s Facebook live session. She and county Supervisor Michael R. Turner (D-Ashburn), who represents Lansdowne, co-hosted the Facebook live session.
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Since the contract was signed, federal officials have met with local homeowners’ association officials and school officials to coordinate the best times for the buses carrying the evacuees to arrive, Randall said.
“There could have been and should have been more information to the residents in Lansdowne,” she said, addressing her neighbors’ frustrations.
A few of the session’s participants were nonetheless welcoming, asking how they could help the evacuees during their stay.
Turner said federal officials are coordinating volunteer efforts. His church has offered to host a music program for the evacuees, he said, while a local sporting goods store offered to donate sporting equipment.