IndianaLocalNews

First thousand Aghan refugees to arrive in Indiana this weekend

Image by ErikaWittlieb from Pixabay

The first thousand Afghan refugees should arrive at Indiana’s Camp Atterbury by this weekend.

Camp Atterbury will temporarily house a total of five-thousand evacuees from Afghanistan. Indiana National Guard Adjutant General Dale Lyles says they’ll be vetted by the F-B-I and the Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security before leaving for the U-S, and again when they land. They’ll undergo medical screenings when they arrive at Atterbury.

Lyles says all arrivals will stay at Atterbury at least two weeks to complete the medical screenings. Those with special immigrant visas can leave as soon as they’re medically cleared. Governor Holcomb says the Pentagon has advised that those with lower-priority visas will stay “weeks, not months” beyond that.

Lyles says Atterbury is equipped to handle the influx. Families will be housed in dorms on the 46-thousand-acre property, while those arriving alone may be housed in open-layout barracks. The base has its own medical clinic, and is contracting to bring in extra equipment like X-ray machines. Lyles says the Guard is mindful of the strain that hospitals are under from the coronavirus pandemic, and will make sure the refugees don’t add to it.

The Guard will offer evacuees the COVID vaccine, and will administer other vaccinations required in Indiana, like those for measles and polio.

Lyles says there’s been an outpouring of Hoosiers wanting to help. Right now, it’s not clear what help will be needed. Lyles says the Guard is setting up a procedure to handle those offers. For now, he says people should call the Guard at (317) 247-3559, and they’ll take your name and get back to you.

Holcomb says those offers of help have included businesses offering to hire Afghans. He says many refugees will be joining family members already in the U-S, but says Indiana’s ready to welcome those who want to settle here. He says many of those who fled Afghanistan literally risked their lives to help American troops, and says Indiana should be ready to go “the extra distance” to help them in return.

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8 comments

Tom H. September 2, 2021 at 7:04 am

Where are the funds coming from to support these families until they are 100% vetted and become self supporting?

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Charles U Farley September 2, 2021 at 8:53 am

Never going to happen, since the current occupant of the White House has no interest in properly vetting them or in having them become self sufficient.

The D party wants imported domestic terrorism as an excuse to take rights away, and they want dependent voters who will reliable vote for more freebies at the taxpayer’s expense.

The Afghan refugees being vetted and self sufficient run afoul of both goals.

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RH September 2, 2021 at 9:02 am

This is wrong!! These people refuse to fight for their own country and now we just open our country to them. There are already way too many terrorist training camps in the US and if you think these are just innocent refugees…think again! Dont forget, the 911 terrorists were HERE in our country, thriving and attending schools here to learn how to fly. Cant even take care of our own homeless citizens!!!

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Thomas Jenson September 2, 2021 at 11:44 am

I’m not sure about that — I’m old enough to remember all the South Vietnamese refugees who came to the US in the 70’s. Many of them have become successful business owners and most are very dedicated to the US and proud to be US citizens and are raising families of kids who are entirely American other than heritage (just like the Irish-, German-, and Italian- Americans who sought refuge here). The refugees who fled Afghanistan as we left are the ones who DID fight along side the US. I know that many of these refugees are the ones who helped the US as translators and other support staff, and they’d be killed outright by the Taliban if they stayed. These are the ones who were loyal to the US, helping to try and defeat the terrorists, and so they have earned our loyalty in return.

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Stocks September 2, 2021 at 9:29 am

Ask the European countries that let thousands of them in a few years ago how assimilation is going. Rapes and sexual assaults’ are through the roof. The fact is they do not assimilate. Ever been to Dearborn, MI?

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Thomas Jenson September 2, 2021 at 11:55 am

I have — it’s a great place to get Middle-Eastern food! But just throwing out Dearborn as proof of people not assimilating is like saying that the Italians who lived in all the “little Italy” sections of cities never assimilated, or the Greeks in “Greektown”. There’s a difference between having a cultural heritage and being anti-American. Assimilation takes a few generations: My great-grandfather only spoke German and never learned English; my grandfather spoke both English and German and lived in a neighborhood with other German-Americans; My dad could cuss in German but that was about it; I only know the German I picked up from war movies and “Hogan’s Heroes”. I love America with all my heart, and all of us are descendants of refugees from somewhere.

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Charles U Farley September 3, 2021 at 8:17 am

There are massive cultural differences between Europeans, Asians, and Middle Easterners.

Your rose colored interpretation of future history completely ignores them. I sincerely hope your prediction comes to pass, but history shows (both in Dearbornistan and in Minnesota) that other outcomes are far more likely (and more unpleasant).

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Thomas Jenson September 2, 2021 at 11:55 am

I have — it’s a great place to get Middle-Eastern food! But just throwing out Dearborn as proof of people not assimilating is like saying that the Italians who lived in all the “little Italy” sections of cities never assimilated, or the Greeks in “Greektown”. There’s a difference between having a cultural heritage and being anti-American. Assimilation takes a few generations: My great-grandfather only spoke German and never learned English; my grandfather spoke both English and German and lived in a neighborhood with other German-Americans; My dad could cuss in German but that was about it; I only know the German I picked up from war movies and “Hogan’s Heroes”. I love America with all my heart, and all of us are descendants of refugees from somewhere.

Reply

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