The Biden administration and more than 200 private agencies are rushing to establish a system for the resettlement of tens of thousands of Afghans, many of whom fled their country with little more than the clothes they were wearing, Bloomberg reports.
A representative of the State Department said that the agency plans to spend up to $2,275 on each evacuee as the relocation effort unfolds in communities across the country over the next few months, according to a department official. The money is to be used for housing, food, other necessities and enrolling children in school.
Up to 50,000 refugees from Afghanistan will have the opportunity to arrive under so-called humanitarian parole, a stopgap program that gives them a year to apply for permanent visas. Other Afghans, including those that worked directly for the U.S. government, will be under separate immigration categories.
The influx will test the ability of the U.S. government and private groups to provide assistance after former President Donald Trump slashed the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. and imposed strict limits on who was permitted to come. President Joe Biden has vowed to rebuild the system.
It is reported, the U.S. has admitted about 40,000 people evacuated from Afghanistan — 31,600 of whom are special immigrant visa holders, special immigrant visa applicants, or other vulnerable Afghan nationals arriving under humanitarian parole.
The State Department is consulting with Congress on the eligibility of the Afghans for federal benefits, including Medicaid, the official said. Humanitarian parolees will be eligible for federally funded health insurance through the end of September, according to a resettlement director familiar with the matter.