• State Department official said funds will be used to help resettle Afghans in the US over the next few months
  • Evacuees may also be given access to federal benefits such as Medicaid 
  • Former Delaware Governor Jack Markell is leading the resettlement process 
  • DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the US will take in around 50,000 Afghan evacuees 
  • Many people still in Afghanistan are living in fear for their lives under the Taliban rule as militants are said to be hunting for Western allies

The US will take in around 50,000 Afghan refugees and spend up to $2,275 on each for housing, food and sending children to school.

A State Department official told Bloomberg the Biden administration has set aside the funds to help tens of thousands of Afghans fleeing from the Taliban resettle in America over the next few months.

The department is also exploring with Congress the possibility that evacuees will be given access to federal benefits such as Medicaid, the official said.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a press briefing Friday that at least 50,000 Afghan evacuees are expected to be resettled in the US following the Taliban takeover.

This number includes US citizens, lawful permanent residents, visa holders, people who have applied for special immigrant visas (SIVs) and other Afghans who are most at risk under Taliban rule such as journalists and aid workers.

Former Delaware Governor Jack Markell has been tasked with leading the resettlement process of those evacuated to the US.

Dubbed ‘Operation Allies Welcome’, the program will work alongside the National Security Council, Domestic Policy Council, DHS, and other federal agencies.

Around 200 private agencies have also been brought on board to help get eligible Afghans resettled as quickly as possible.

Thousands of evacuees are being granted entry to the US under humanitarian parole, which admits them on an emergency basis.

Once on US soil, evacuees on this program have one year to apply for a permanent visa to stay.

A resettlement director told Bloomberg that plans are in place to give these evacuees federally funded health insurance until the end of September.

Mayorkas said Friday the relocation efforts are part of the US’s ‘enduring commitment’ to the people who worked with or helped the US during its 20 years of war in Afghanistan.

‘Our commitment is an enduring one. This is not just a matter of the next several weeks,’ he said.

‘We will not rest until we have accomplished the ultimate goal.’

The US has ‘a moral imperative to protect them, to support those who have supported this nation,’ he added.

Mayorkas said the 50,000 figure was an estimate which could become greater and is not to a particular deadline.

Around 40,000 evacuees have already made it through security vetting and arrived in the US, including US citizens or permanent residents.

Federal data obtained by CBS News shows around 25,600 were being housed at US military sites as of Friday.

Eight military sites across five states of Virginia, Wisconsin, New Mexico, New Jersey and Indiana are being used as temporary housing for the evacuees.