Last Afghan Refugees Depart New Jersey Air Force Base

JOINT BASE McGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NJ — All Afghan refugees have left New Jersey's Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst after spending more than 6 months there, the Department of Homeland Security announced Saturday.

More than 76,000 Afghan nationals have arrived on American soil since Operation Allies Welcome began last August, according to the DHS, along with about 8,600 American citizens and lawful permanent residents.

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst had the largest number of Afghans, according to the Associated Press, with 14,500 refugees at the peak.

The refugees are joining communities across the U.S., with national resettlement organizations helping them find new homes.

Some thousands more refugees will come into the U.S. in the next year, the Department of Homeland Security said. While the federal government works to set up a new facility for them, some may be temporarily stationed at the New Jersey base.

All evacuees from Afghanistan must go through a rigorous screening and vetting process before entering the United States, as well as be up-to-date on vaccines.

According to the Associated Press, many of the refugees have moved to existing Afghan communities in northern Virginia and the surrounding Washington, D.C. area, or to Texas and Northern California.