‘Important Milestone’: Biden Reacts To Arrival of First Group of Evacuated Afghan Nationals
President Joe Biden is praising the arrival of 200 Afghans to the U.S. as an “important milestone.” The first flight of Operation Allies Refuge arrived in the U.S. on Friday. They and their families are eligible for…

President Joe Biden is praising the arrival of 200 Afghans to the U.S. as an “important milestone.”
The first flight of Operation Allies Refuge arrived in the U.S. on Friday. They and their families are eligible for Special Immigrant Visas (SIV).
The 200 newly arrived Afghans worked with the U.S. government and have faced threats from the Taliban. They primarily worked as interpreters.
“Today is 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 in Afghanistan,” Biden wrote in a statement on Friday.
“These arrivals are just the first of many as we work quickly to relocate SIV-eligible Afghans out of harm’s way—to the United States, to U.S. facilities abroad, or to third countries—so that they can wait in safety while they finish their visa applications.”
Biden noted that these first Afghans have completed “extensive background checks and security screening” by the Intelligence Community and the Departments of State and Homeland Security. They will complete medical checks in Virginia and the final steps of their visa applications.
“Although U.S. troops are leaving, we will continue to support Afghanistan


