One of President Joe Biden’s United States military base-turned-refugee camps is now “larger than half the towns in New Jersey” in terms of population, the New York Times detailed.
Fort Dix in New Jersey is among a series of military bases the Biden administration has turned into quasi-refugee camps where more than 70,000 Afghans have been temporarily housed after having been flown to the U.S. with minimal vetting.
The Biden administration hopes to bring a total of 95,000 Afghans to the U.S. with plans to resettle them across 46 states.
At Fort Dix, about 11,000 Afghans are currently being housed at the base with a constant stream arriving every week through the Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania.
The Times reported:
After fleeing Afghanistan as the Taliban seized power, she and her mother and four siblings were routed through Germany before arriving at what has become known as Liberty Village, a community that swelled nearly overnight to hold a population larger than half the towns in New Jersey. [Emphasis added]
It is the only location still accepting new Afghan arrivals from overseas, according to the Department of Homeland Security. It is likely to be among the last sites to shut down, based on its housing capacity and proximity to Philadelphia, the main U.S. port of entry for the new arrivals, officials said Thursday as they offered the first media tour of the encampment. [Emphasis added]
As many as four planeloads of Afghans continue to arrive in New Jersey each week from overseas safe havens where 3,300 people are waiting their turn to enter the United States as part of the largest evacuation of war refugees since Vietnam. [Emphasis added]
To date, according to the latest data, the Biden administration has resettled roughly 36,000 Afghans across the U.S. since September with another 37,000 Afghans still temporarily living on U.S. military bases awaiting resettlement.
At Fort Dix. alone, 3,500 Afghans have left the base for resettlement in the U.S.