Despite the unknowns, young Afghans arriving in America are hopeful. They can apply for asylum or wait until Congress offers a special legal status, like it did for those fleeing the aftermath of the Vietnam War. There are young adults separated from their parents with no paperwork. So now she wants better life here, like peaceful life for me and for my kids.īOWMAN: Other Afghans here might have a long wait and an unknown future, arriving in the U.S. Here she is, talking through our interpreter.įAUZIA TAMANNA: So she says, since my two son and my husband, they served America since 22 years, so they help them. Her husband and sons were for years with the U.S. She's 52 and had a career in telecommunications. They were granted a special immigrant visa and a path to citizenship.īOWMAN: People like Fauzia from Kabul - we're only using her first name for her protection. Some of the Afghans here work for the U.S. There are still more than 30,000 to come.īOWMAN: Everyone is given a wristband based on their medical condition or immigration status. The flow of people is constant.įINERTY: We had approximately 29,000 Afghans come through the Dulles space and move on to their forward bases. Probably the best I've ever seen.īOWMAN: Besides a kids' corner, there are sleeping cots, a cafeteria, a medical unit and a large processing hall that looks like an airport terminal. A huge cardboard box is flattened, laid out and serves as a drawing board.įINERTY: This is my favorite use of recycled boxes.įINERTY.
Boys and girls toss balls with a volunteer from the humanitarian group Save the Children. Maybe we stop here for just a second.īOWMAN: Crayon drawings stretch up a tall wall. She's showing us around, walking past a cluster of women with children in tow and men on cellphones.įINERTY: And then this is my favorite spot. And she hasn't gotten a lot of sleep lately. She's the woman in charge of this enormous effort. So we're really running a small village here.īOWMAN: This is Tressa Rae Finerty, deputy executive secretary at the State Department. TRESSA RAE FINERTY: There are hundreds of State Department, DOD, USAID and TSA in this building at any one time. Now it's a welcoming center for the largest airlift of refugees in American history. TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Just a few weeks ago, the Dulles Expo Center hosted everything from home shows to flea markets to gun shows.
involvement in Afghanistan's war from the beginning to now, and he has an exclusive look inside the facility. Most land in Virginia and are brought to the Dulles Expo Center, a cavernous building just outside of Washington, D.C. Thousands of refugees from the war in Afghanistan have now arrived in the United States.
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