Fort McCoy to house Afghan refugees

We've heard numbers in the hundreds, possibly 2,000 but that, frankly, is all conjecture at this time”

Governor Tony Evers

The Pentagon Wednesday, confirmed that Ft. McCoy will be used to house Afghan refugees escaping from the war-torn country after it fell to the Taliban over the past weekend.

In a briefing with reporters, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the DOD authorized the use of Fort McCoy and Fort Bliss, Texas, to provide housing to Afghan refugees applying for special immigration visas.

Those two installations are in addition to Fort Lee in Virginia, which has already been providing housing to the refugees. 

The Ft. McCoy Public Affairs Office deferred all inquiries to the Department of Defense (DOD), whose spokesman, Lt. Col. Chris Mitchell, said both Ft. McCoy and Ft. Bliss hosted assessment teams earlier this week before the final decision was announced.

He said the overall plan is to temporarily house up to 22,000 refugees while they are being processed.

“Just to get the State Department background checks, health and medical checks – things of that nature,” said Mitchell. “The intent is not for it to be long-term. It’s for the processing period.”

In Wednesday’s press briefing, DOD press secretary John Kirby said U.S. Northern Command will coordinate all the details with the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services. He added the details of exactly how each site is going to be fitted out is still being worked on.

There was no information on when refugees will begin arriving at Ft. McCoy or how many the installation can expect.

As of Wednesday, the military had evacuated approximately 5,000 people from Afghanistan, which included both refugees and U.S personnel operating in the country. The DOD has said it wants to ramp that up to 5,000 to 9,000 per day.

Gov. Tony Evers reiterated Wednesday there was no number on how many visa applicants and relatives would be processed at Fort McCoy.

"We've heard numbers in the hundreds, possibly 2,000 but that, frankly, is all conjecture at this time," Evers said. "We will continue to keep posted when we know any more."

He added that Wisconsin would welcome the refugees but he didn’t know how many would actually be resettled in the state.

Forty years ago, this summer, Ft. McCoy was picked as one of three military bases to house Cuban refugees after Fidel Castro opened up his borders, allowing any citizen who wanted to go to the U.S. to leave.

Called the Mariel Boatlift, it brought 125,000 refugees to American shores, 14,000 of which ended up at Ft. McCoy. With them came a welcomed infusion of money into the slagging local economy and well-paying, although temporary, jobs.

What also accompanied the refugees was fear and concern among the native population, which didn’t know what to expect.

 It was a four-month period that put the area at the center of media attention and a time that presented unique challenges to county residents and government officials as well as the refugees themselves.

Around 200 of the refugees initially ended up settling in the area, but as of 1985 only 50 were left.