U.S. relocates all Afghan evacuees from military sites, completing first resettlement phase

The Biden administration on Saturday relocated the last group of Afghan evacuees from a military site in New Jersey, completing the first phase of a historic, six-months-long operation to resettle vulnerable Afghans in the aftermath of the abrupt collapse of the U.S.-aligned government in Kabul. 

As part of the largest U.S. resettlement effort in decades, the Biden administration established a network of short-term housing hubs at military bases overseas and across the U.S. last summer to quickly process tens of thousands of Afghans who were deemed to be at risk of harm in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

U.S. officials used "lily pads" at military sites overseas to vet and process Afghans airlifted from Kabul last summer, and set up eight temporary housing installations known as "safe havens" at domestic bases to vaccinate the new arrivals against contagious diseases and finish their resettlement processing.