Sisolak says Nevada ready to welcome Afghan refugees

CARSON CITY — Gov. Steve Sisolak and the bureau helium created to assistance immigrants coming to Nevada recommitted Thursday to assisting Afghan refugees and peculiar migrant visa holders “as the concern continues to unfold successful Afghanistan.”

“We indispensable not hide that Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders are those who assisted our U.S. subject operations and worked side-by-side with our American services members, including immoderate of the galore Nevada Veterans who proudly served overseas,” Sisolak said successful an advisory released by his Office for New Americans, which promotes opportunities for immigrants coming to the Nevada. Sisolak moved to make the bureau erstwhile helium took bureau successful 2019.

“Nevada has ever been, and volition proceed to beryllium a welcoming authorities for all, and we basal acceptable to play our portion successful resettlement efforts,” the politician said.

According to the State Department’s Refugee Processing Center, Nevada had received 37 refugees from Oct. 1 of past twelvemonth done July 31, 10 of them from Afghanistan. The nationalist full for the aforesaid play was 6,246, with 494 from Afghanistan. Those numbers bash not see SIV admissions.

People of mixed American-foreign nationality and SIV arrivals for the aforesaid play full 4,181 — 63 percent, oregon 2,627, from Afghanistan. Among that group, Nevada has received 7 people.

Annual exile admissions were curtailed nether the Trump medication and constricted to 15,000 successful 2021. President Joe Biden lifted that headdress to 62,500 successful May, and monthly admissions for the May-to-July play correspond 62 percent of each admissions for the year. Biden has pledged to licence 125,000 exile admissions successful the fiscal twelvemonth that starts successful October.

In Nevada, arsenic successful different states, nonprofit organizations administer and oversee exile admissions. Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada serves arsenic the exile resettlement bureau for the state, with 2 further resettlement offices, the ECDC African Community Center successful Las Vegas and Northern Nevada International Center successful Reno.

In a statement, Deacon Tom Roberts, CEO of the Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, said the exile resettlement assemblage remained “devoted to our ngo to assistance those who person been tragically displaced from their location countries arsenic they question refuge successful the United States.”

The Office for New Americans is moving with resettlement agencies to assistance with the imaginable influx of Afghan refugees, but arsenic of present “neither the State nor our exile resettlement bureau person been informed by the national authorities of immoderate caller expected arrivals from Afghanistan,” the office’s advisory said.

Director Charina de Asis said the bureau was committed to “welcoming each caller refugees and SIVs into the State. They undoubtedly enrich and fortify the cloth of Nevada. Their taste and economical contributions marque our State infinitely better.”

Contact Capital Bureau newsman Bill Dentzer astatine bdentzer@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DentzerNews connected Twitter.