WHEREAS, Over 300,000 Afghan civilians were affiliated with
the American mission in Afghanistan over the past two decades;
and
WHEREAS, Of the 300,000 Afghan civilians who were affiliated
with the American military, only a small portion qualified for
refugee protection in the United States; and
WHEREAS, A top priority of the Federal government has been to
evacuate the estimated 88,000 Afghans who directly aided the
American military; and
WHEREAS, In his speech to the nation on August 16, 2021,
President Joseph Biden stated there were plans to evacuate more
Afghan families; and
WHEREAS, The Biden Administration prepared to temporarily
relocate approximately 30,000 Afghans with special visas to two
military installations in Texas and Wisconsin; and
WHEREAS, The Biden Administration negotiated with several
countries in the Middle East and central Asia to temporarily
host Afghans until they can be resettled in the United States;
and
WHEREAS, Since August 14, 2021, over 105,000 people have been
airlifted from Afghanistan; and
WHEREAS, As of August 25, 2021, more than 8,600 evacuees have
arrived in the United States through Washington Dulles
International Airport in Virginia; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia International Airport was the
second airport in the nation to welcome Afghan refugees; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has a long history of accepting
refugees, including Anabaptists escaping religious persecution
in the 1700s and Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s; and
WHEREAS, Today, Lancaster County is known as the country's
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