Afghan refugees arriving in the United States are sitting on airplanes for up to 12 hours on the tarmac at Washington Dulles International Airport as their paperwork is processed.
Afghan Refugees Waiting 10-12 Hours To Even Step Off Airplanes At Washington Dulles
The current mission in Afghanistan is clear: evacuate eligible parties now, complete a full vetting later. As the Taliban-imposed August 31st deadline looms for U.S. troops to exit, thousands are departing Afghanistan each day, heading to the United States via U.S. bases in Germany and the Persian Gulf.
But as U.S. foreign bases reach capacity, refugees are arriving on full flights to the United States. Currently, Washington Dulles Airport (IAD) outside of the District of Columbia is serving as the single processing center for these new refugees, with background checks and COVID-19 screenings taking place after landing.
Refugees, some who left Afghanistan with only the clothes on their back and not even any shoes, have waited up to 12 hours in Washington Dulles to be allowed off the aircraft. Once off the aircraft, refugees are bussed to the Dulles Expo Center, where they have access to:
- food
- water
- clean toilets
- beds
- mobile phone charging stations
One there, processing can take an additional day, which includes extensive background checks and health screenings.
But while waiting onboard, airlines have provided:
- water
- food
- baby formula
- wipes
- diapers
- socks
- slippers
The waits have only gotten worse as more flights arrive (and are set to arrive). On Thursday, seven aircraft were parked waiting to be processed.
A Department of Homeland Security official told The Wall Street Journal:
“Over the last several days, we have worked with urgency and with care to enhance screening and vetting operations such that we make these operations more efficient without compromising national security.”
Philadelphia International Airport could serve as a secondary port of entry starting as early as today.
Once processed, refugees may be placed on special domestic charter flights to other points within the U.S. for final resettlement.
CONCLUSION
The additional wait on an air-conditioned plane is probably a small price to pay to escape Afghanistan, though it again brings into question the competence of U.S. officials handing this operation.
Refugees are waiting up to 12 hours to even be allowed off the plane before being bussed to a convention center for further processing.
But in a small glimmer of hope, many families have already been joyfully re-united in the parking lot outside. Now a new life in the USA awaits…
image: United Airlines (refugees boarding a domestic resettlement flight)
Please do not continue to question the competence of the administration handing this operation. President Harris doesn’t take kindly to dissent.
Totally agree.
The last President would have deported illegals like Joe Chivas.
If you want an interesting comparison on how this can be done administratively, see how Sweden handled the Afghans that came this week compared to how DHS/CBP does, and Sweden is not even a model in bureaucratic efficiency.
The US needs to disband DHS permanently, massively reorganize CBP and finally make CBP into an accountable organization with much tighter limits to its MO — especially vis-a-vis how CBP deals with US citizens and US LPRs.
I wonder how sure we are with the rush to get them out that they were properly vetted? And why is any foreigner being evacuated while there are still Americans trying to get out?
Where is the Demented in Chief?
Sipping wine spritzers at Mar-a-Lago dreaming about being handsy with Ivanka.
Listen up, folks. Here’s the deal on Afghanistan. We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women are created, by the, you know, you know, uhh, the thing. C’mon man.
If only that fake post was funny. If only.
C’mon man, keeping people 12 hours on a plane on the tarmac is inhumane. Democrats screamed about conditions that illegal immigrants were kept in on the border during the Trump administration, but this is worse. After a long flight and a 12 hour delay on the tarmac what do you think the sanitary conditions on that plane were?
C’mon man. Quit busting my balls you dog-faced pony soldier.
You are seriously comparing 12 hours on a plane versus being kept in a detention center for months while being separated from family?
Are you kidding me? Your message pretty much sums up the problem with the Republican Party, or what’s left of it these days. YOU JUST DON”T GET IT. And you most likely never will.
I won’t waste my time trying to explain the difference between being held in an air conditioned plane as a refugee, to separating young children from their parents, and then holding them unlawfully for months (if not years) in cages. And I won’t go into the sterilization of young immigrant woman that the Trump Administration did too.
Your president is incompetent. Enough said.
And your President wanted us to drink Clorox.
Do you ever stop looking for things to complain about? The United States is providing an escape from the chaos and implosion of civilized society in Afghanistan; 12 hours is a small price to pay for that.
C’mon man, wasn’t it Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] with S.2341 – Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights? Are you justifying treating these people worse than American citizens just because they were evacuated allies? Seems a bit unfair, or even racist. You treat the situation as if evacuation was a handout not an American obligation. Shame on you. Haven’t our allies already paid dearly for Biden’s errors?
Technically, this was George Bush and Tony Blair’s error.
Biden’s errors? Exactly what ‘errors’ are you referring to? The Trump Administration left Afghanistan as a dumpster fire signing a ridiculous treaty, reducing our troops to less than 3k, and then refusing to allow the Biden Administration access to any classified information until Biden was sworn in on January 20th.
You and your criminal Republican party chose to spread lies about voter and election fraud rather than protect the citizens of this country. Biden couldn’t even get votes on his cabinet picks until March at the earliest while Trump had promised the Taliban the US would be out by May 1st. And suddenly it’s Biden’s fault?
Republicans treat about 40% of the USA as complete idiots, and those idiots continue to prove them right over and over again…..just like you AlohaDaveKennedy.
But the other 60% of the country knows better….and finds people like you as just pathetic.
If you’re wondering about the competence of the ‘US officials’ running the refugee program, look no further than the deft handling of the migrants’ homeland by this particular regime.
The President of Taiwan was forced to sleep in a 737 when it landed in Honolulu for refueling and crew rest. The US would not let him get off the plane in order to try to make the People’s Republic of China happy. Two wrongs don’t make a right, just two wrongs.
How much “product” can those airplane lavatories hold?
The aircraft is on the ground they can simply hook up the lav truck and dump the lavs without ever going on board.
This whole withdrawal is a total cluster fuck owned 100% by the potted plant in the White House and his administration. So why should this phase be any different. And to think there is a significant segment of our population who want to hand over more control of our daily lives to this government. This nation was built by a lot of heros. It’s going to be destroyed by idiots.
I could say the same thing about COVID being owned by the last administration led by the pussy grabber in chief.
Most Americans want us out…but not in your Qworld.
The author, editor, and this publication just made the universal top 10 list for “Tool articles of all time” with this piece. Of course, the author, though, wouldn’t know shit about hardship, just look him up, he has been to 135 countries! But damn, how waiting on a plane is such a hardship compared to bombings, shakedowns, persecution, or a general lack of rule of law is definitely in the same ballpark. This author is a true example of “You know nothing…”
Try actually reading the article, sweetheart.