Loudoun County seems likely to become a temporary safe haven for refugees from the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
According to Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall (D), the deal isn’t finalized, but if all goes through as planned, asylum seekers will arrive beginning March 1.
WTOP’s Rick Massimo has more:
Randall said the new arrivals would be in the county for a month “while they are headed to the final destinations, which will be all over the country.”
While the location hasn’t been picked, Sheriff Mike Chapman said in a statement that the site would be the National Conference Center, and that asylum seekers, whom he said mostly were coming from Qatar, would stay in Loudoun County in groups of 1,000 for a month each through September.
Ashburn District Supervisor Mike Turner said, “I think this is an enormous opportunity for Northern Virginia, and specifically for the Lansdowne community, to welcome people who literally fought alongside us for 20 years, who have been uprooted, whose lives are threatened in their homeland.”
Randall said federal officials told them the asylum seekers have been vetted and screened, and comprised about 65% women and children. “There are women who were schoolteachers and taught girls — and, of course, under the Taliban, girls are not allowed to be taught. They are embassy workers. They are interpreters for the U.S. military. They were guides; they are allies.”
Chapman, a Republican, said he was surprised by the news and has concerns about coordinating possible public safety and logistical concerns.