Here & Now

Afghanistan Refugees Coming to Fort McCoy

Zac Schultz:

Also in Washington, the Pentagon this week authorized Wisconsin’s Fort McCoy to receive refugees from Afghanistan. This will mark more than 40 years since the base housed Cuban refugees fleeing Fidel Castro in 1980. U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher and Governor Tony Evers both reacted to the news.

Mike Gallagher:

I guess I am sympathetic to the idea that if you fought with us, you should be eligible for the SIV program. But I don’t think we should relax the vetting standards for that program. So as we make sure people are eligible for that program, we also need to be working with countries in the region who can take the broader population of refugees and asylees that quite frankly we’re not equipped to handle right now.

Tony Evers:

We have open arms here in Wisconsin. I do not believe that all of them that come here are going to end up in Wisconsin. But we have a wonderful group of organizations, Lutheran Social Services, Jewish Social Services, any number of them that will be national in scope that will be helping to place these people.

Zac Schultz:

Fort McCoy could receive anywhere from hundreds to a few thousand refugees according to the governor.