U.S. Could Admit More Than 50,000 People From Afghanistan Airlift

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said more than 40,000 people have already arrived in the U.S. and that number is expected to rise.

The U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security says the government expects to admit more than 50,000 people into the country from the Afghanistan airlift. Alejandro Mayorkas suggested Friday that figure could climb in what he called an unprecedented evacuation. Mayorkas told reporters during a news conference that the U.S. has brought more than 40,000 people into the country from Afghanistan since the fall of Kabul last month. About a quarter of those who have come so far are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.