The government is looking after more than 100 Afghan minors who arrived in the United States unaccompanied.
Unaccompanied Afghan minors, who were a part of the evacuation effort by U.S. and coalition forces during the second half of last month, fall under the purview of the Department of Health and Human Services.
CONFUSION AND CHAOS SURROUND CHARTER PLANES TRAPPED IN AFGHANISTAN
While there are more than 100 minors in their custody, the “majority” of them have been reunited with nonparental relatives who were also evacuated and relocated, HHS said, which was first reported by CBS News.
“We are working to ensure that Unaccompanied Afghan Minors (UAM) who are referred to the Office of Refugee and Resettlement (ORR) for processing, unification, or placement are placed with licensed care providers that are able to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services or unified directly with a vetted sponsor, such as a family member who arrived with the minor,” an HHS spokesperson told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
“Unaccompanied minors do not represent a significant share of arriving Afghan nationals,” a spokesperson for HHS told the Washington Examiner last week, while Gen. Glen VanHerck, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, described the number as “a couple” last Friday.
Approximately 48,000 Afghan evacuees have reached the United States since Aug. 17, according to CBS, which cited Department of Homeland Security data.
The tens of thousands of Afghans flown out of Afghanistan in August, before America withdrew all of its troops, have been taken to the Middle East and Europe, where they are being screened before going on to the U.S. The U.S. European Command spans across Germany, Italy, and Spain.
A senior administration official told reporters Tuesday that any evacuee whose vetting turns up a red flag undergoes additional screening. The official did not directly answer whether any individual has undergone the following checks, and it was determined that he or she should not enter the U.S. when asked directly.
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“I think it’s fair to say that for those whose initial vetting and screening led to a sense that more vetting and screening, more work, is appropriate, then that work either has continued and reached a point of satisfaction with entry or is continuing,” the official said.
Only one person out of the tens of thousands of people flown out of Afghanistan and on to U.S. bases in Europe over the past three weeks has failed the national security screening process, Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters told reporters last Thursday.
