Pentagon informed those relatives want to leave.
Sixty United States service members have notified the Department of Defense about relatives who are still in Afghanistan but want to get out. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl issued a memo on November 4 urging those in the military with family members remaining in Afghanistan and seeking to leave to email his office and provide them with their information.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby acknowledged that “60 service members have come forward and expressed concerns about family members in Afghanistan” in the last two weeks. However, Kirby said that none of the people whose names were submitted to Kahl’s office were eligible for parole status.
Parole is a permission granted by the Department of Homeland Security to a foreign national that allows them to physically enter the United States yet still be considered to have not legally entered the country. Afghan nationals granted humanitarian parole may be eligible for Afghan Placement and Assistance programs.
“Our policy shop put out a memo to the services to let them know that the immediate family members of our service members in Afghanistan are eligible for facilitated departure, and it lists who they are and encouraging military personnel and DOD civilians, quite frankly, with immediate members to contact the Office of Policy here at the Pentagon,” Kirby said.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the nation’s military members with families who remain in Afghanistan to find satisfaction from U.S. government efforts to extract them.
- For the individuals who are related to American military members who are remaining in Afghanistan but want to leave.
- For Pentagon officials to facilitate the departure of these relatives of U.S. military personnel.
Sources: Washington Examiner, Military Times, usaimmigration.org
