The first group of Afghan interpreters who helped American troops in Afghanistan has landed early Friday morning at Washington Dulles International Airport, the States Department announced Friday.
A commercial airliner carrying 221 Afghans, including 57 children and 15 babies, according to the internal document obtained by The Associated Press, touched down at the airport early on Friday morning.
The first group of applicants has been transferred to Fort Lee, Virginia, where they will need to finish the remaining steps on their path to becoming America’s newest immigrants—joining 70,000 Afghan special immigrants who have become permanent residents and started new lives in the United States since 2008, the States Department said.
“Their arrival demonstrates the U.S. government’s commitment to Afghans who put themselves and their families at great risk by working side-by-side with our service members and diplomats to build a better future for Afghanistan,” the Statement Department said in a statement.
The White House confirmed that the Afghans were the first of about 2,500 Afghans – composed of 700 “principal” applicants and their families – to be evacuated to the US in the first group of relocations. That group has already been approved for the special immigrant visas and cleared background checks, according to the White House.
In a statement, President Joe Biden said the arrivals were “an important milestone as we continue to fulfill our promise to the thousands of Afghan nationals who served shoulder-to-shoulder with American troops and diplomats over the last 20 years.”
“These arrivals are just the first of many,” he said.
“I want to thank these brave Afghans for standing with the United States, and today, I am proud to say to them: “Welcome home.”
The newly arrived Afghans, who primarily worked as interpreters, and their families qualified for visas under the special immigrant visa program set up to help those who risked their lives for U.S. troops over two decades of war.
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