U.S. President Joe Biden has authorized up to $100m from an emergency fund to meet “unexpected urgent” refugee needs stemming from the situation in Afghanistan. This also includes Afghan special immigration visa applicants, the White House said.
Biden also approved the release of $200m in services and articles from the inventories of US government agencies to meet the same needs.
The United States is preparing to begin evacuating thousands of Afghan applicants for special immigration visas who are at risk from the Taliban because they worked for the US government.
The first batch of evacuees and their families is expected to be flown before the end of the month to Fort Lee, a U.S. military base in Virginia, where they will wait for the final processing of their visa applications.
About 2,500 Afghans could be brought to the facility, about 48 kilometers south of Richmond, the Pentagon said on Monday.
The Biden administration is reviewing other U.S. facilities in the United States and overseas where SIV applicants and their families could be accommodated.
On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation introduced by Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) to increase the visa cap for Afghan interpreters and other partners and expedite the visa process. The bill would allow 8,000 of the special visas for translators and others who helped the United States and are at risk of retaliation from the Taliban as the U.S. military withdrawal enters its final weeks.
The United States has granted 26,500 such visas since December 2014.
(With inputs from agencies)
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