from: Jason Calvi, Denise Craig
Posted: 8/22/2021 / 12:27 PM CDTUpdated: 8/22/2021 / 12:27 p.m. CDT
LA CROSSE, Wisc. (WLAX) – Wisconsin will play a pivotal role in the international rescue movement that brings thousands of refugees from Afghanistan to Fort McCoy outside La Crosse.
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The base is prepared for a few thousand refugees; However, you are preparing for even more.
“Right now we think we can get up 22,000 [refugees] in a relatively short time here in the next days and weeks, “said Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.
Fort McCoy will be one of three bases for the refugees.
Lawmakers said the United States had an obligation to try to protect those who helped American forces in Afghanistan.
Biden: “Afghan military mission will be completed on August 31”
“We have an obligation to those who have really helped the United States government during our 20 years in Afghanistan,” said Congressman Bryan Steil. “We have to ensure that these people are given free security and freedom to travel out of Afghanistan.”
Steil said he was also concerned about the Americans captured in Afghanistan.
“We had someone from the Special Forces who contacted my office,” said Steil. “He knows 40 people who are trapped with sensitive information in Kabul.
The refugees coming to Wisconsin will be subjected to a COVID-19 test; however, no vaccinations are required at this time.
In addition to humanitarian efforts, housing refugees at the Wisconsin Fort could have an economic impact on the region.
Afghan refugees could go to Fort McCoy. to be brought into Wisconsin
“What happens in Fort McCoy, behind the fence you basically have a town; a city that shows up within days only appears within days; and people who work around the clock, 24 hours a day, to run this city, ”said Jarrod Roll, a historian from Monroe County.
Roll stated that this happened in 1980 when Cuban refugees were brought to Fort McCoy. The influx of people actually created a temporary boost to the troubled economy at the time.
“When the refugees came to Fort McCoy, there was an immediate demand for workers, from cleaners to cooks,” Roll said.
Roll expects to see this again in Western Wisconsin.
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