Dallas

Dallas Agency Ready to Help Resettle Afghan Refugees

Refugee Services of Texas are rushing to set up apartments for Afghan evacuees

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The White House updated evacuation numbers late Thursday saying roughly 7,500 people were flown out of Kabul on Thursday.

Since the end of July, the U.S. says it's relocated more than 105,000 people.

Many Afghans who escape will end up in homes across the U.S., including Dallas, where there is a rush to get ready for more refugees.

Sarah Long, a case manager for Refugee Services of Texas, says her team is currently setting up three apartments for refugee families.

She also helps welcome refugees when they arrive at the airport and might be the first American they see after they land.

“It’s not easy getting off that plane because I’m sure if it were me, I’d want to be back in my home country and just not have, you know, violence,” Long said.

The refugees arrive with special immigration visas for working with the U.S. in Afghanistan, they're vetted at military bases then flown to their new homes.

Long says the Afghan family moving into one Dallas apartment Friday escaped right before the Taliban took over. “I hope that when they're here that they see that they're valued, they're cared for, and I hope that the way that we set this up communicates that,” Long said.

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