LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — Federal officials are narrowing in on Loudoun County as a potential safe haven for evacuees from Afghanistan, and local leaders are not on the same page with one another.
Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall issued a statement Thursday announcing that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was considering the county for its Operation Allies Welcome program.
The program would place asylum seekers from Afghanistan who assisted the U.S. military in a temporary place — officials say is the National Conference Center (NCC) in Leesburg — before they go to permanent homes across the country. Randall wrote that the evacuees would be "fully vetted outside the United States before being allowed to enter the country."
Following Randall's statement, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office issued a statement raising questions about the program's mission, claiming the county received an "unannounced visit" from DHS and Federal Protective Service (FPS) on Thursday. DHS and FPS told officials, according to the sheriff's office, that "approximately 2000 Afghan refugees, per month, were slated to arrive at the Washington Dulles International Airport during a window beginning as early as February 19, 2022, and extending to September 2022."
"DHS/FPS estimated that no more than 1000 refugees per month would remain at the NCC at any given time until September 2022," LSCO said.
Sheriff Mike Chapman said in a statement Thursday that he raised several concerns and expectations with leaders from DHS and FPS but that the expectations haven't yet been met.
Chapman's concerns included the level of vetting the refugees would have received, NCC's location being near a residential area and possible safety issues.
"[W]e continue to have concerns as to whether the NCC is an appropriate location to support this mission,” Chapman said in a statement. “We will continue to keep our community informed as this process continues. If the resettlement proceeds, we will work with the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and all stakeholders to ensure that appropriate resources are obtained for the refugees’ successful transition into the United States.”
The sheriff's concerns are not shared by Board of Supervisors Chair Randall and Ashburn District Supervisor Mike Turner.
"I am completely dumbfounded frankly, by the sheriff's characterization of the communication and the transparency," Turner said in an interview with WUSA9. "Everything I've seen here is this is a first class operation. They have everything buttoned up and sewn up tight.”
Randall and Turner issued a joint statement Friday after they met with federal officials about the project noting that "DHS has not signed a contract with any facility in Loudoun County" at this time.
"[A] contract will not be signed if certain entities in Loudoun government are not willing to take part in Operation Allies Welcome," Randall and Thomas wrote.
In the statement the two list what they know so far about the potential for the project. They reiterated that the evacuees would have been screened by the U.S. government and they would live in Loudoun County for about two to four weeks before moving to another home somewhere in the country. "We are not their final destination," the statement says.
"These individuals are not refugees; they are asylum seekers; they are our allies and family members of American citizens and lawful permanent residents," Randall and Thomas wrote. "Because they are allies of the U.S., they and their families cannot return to their home country without high risk of being killed by the Taliban, who are now in power."
About 65% of asylum seekers would be women and children and would have received appropriate vaccinations and COVID-19 tests. Other refugees would possibly be judges, prosecutors, special immigration visa holders, teachers, interpreters and guides for the military, women's rights activists, journalists and family members of American citizens.
Randall and Thomas wrote that any site set up as a location for asylum seekers would be federalized and that other safe havens that have been set up have experienced few law enforcement incidents.
According to the statement, Loudoun’s Fire Marshall has signed off on a facility under consideration, but the statement did not name the facility.
The leaders pledged that if a contract was signed to go forward with the program, they would "hold a public, in-person meeting for Lansdowne on the Potomac residents before any evacuees arrive."
Another meeting with the stakeholders is set for Tuesday.
After another meeting Friday with leaders, Sheriff Chapman says he feels better about the project. He said his concerns were with lack of planning and communication – not about the asylum seekers coming.
In an interview with WUSA9, Randall said the asylum seekers would be welcome with open arms if the program goes forward.
She said, "I was asked earlier, should the federal government kind of ask our permission, and let me just say, you know, the federal government should ask no one's permission to help asylum seekers who helped American soldiers stay alive during a 20-year war."