According to a senior administration official who was not allowed to speak publicly but spoke under anonymity, the Operation Allies Refuge flights from Afghanistan will be made available to special immigrant visa applicants currently applying for U.S residency.
Senators from both sides of the aisle have pressed President Joe Biden to develop a plan for helping Afghan military personnel evacuate before the U.S. military withdraws next month. Last month, the White House briefed lawmakers about the outline of its plans.
Tens of thousands of Afghans could be affected by the evacuation plan. Many thousand Afghans, including their families, who have worked for the U.S. are currently in the pipeline to apply for special immigrant visas.
The Biden administration is also working to identify a third country, or U.S. territory, that could host Afghans during processing of their visa applications.
According to another administration official who spoke under anonymity to discuss internal discussions, the administration is considering using State Department-chartered commercial planes, and not military aircraft. The official stated that the U.S. military is available to help if the State Department requested military aircraft.
Three-time chief of missions in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, Tracey Jacobson is heading the State Department coordination unit, which will fulfill the president's promise under Operation Allies Refuge. This unit also includes representatives of the homeland security and defense departments.
Officials said Russ Travers is the deputy homeland security advisor and the former head of National Counterterrorism Center. He now coordinates the interagency policy process for Operation Allies Refuge.
Separately, the White House announced Elizabeth Sherwood Randall, the White House homeland Security adviser, would lead an American delegation to Uzbekistan to discuss Afghanistan's security concerns with leaders from the Central 5 (Austria, the Czech Republic. Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia) and other regional players.
Ashraf Ghani, Afghan president, and Zalmay Khalilzad (special envoy to the United States on Afghanistan reconciliation), are expected to participate in the conference.
U.S. officials stated that there is one option: to move Afghan visa applicants to Central Asia neighboring countries. This would protect them from any retaliation by Taliban or other groups.
The White House and State Department declined to comment on the precise numbers or whereabouts of those being relocated.
Biden last week announced that the U.S. military operations in Afghanistan would end on August 31st.
After former President Donald Trump's administration reached a deal with Taliban to end U.S. military operations by May 1, 2021, the date for the end of the war was set. Biden announced, shortly after assuming office, that U.S. troops would be gone by the 20th anniversary the Sept. 11 2001 attacks. Al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden, who was hiding in Afghanistan from the Taliban, plotted the attacks.
