Sen. Warnock says Atlanta will resettle Afghan refugees; unclear whether some will come to Cobb

Sep. 6—Atlanta is among a list of 19 U.S. cities the State Department says will resettle Afghans who worked with the U.S. armed forces as translators or interpreters in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.

In a Facebook post, Warnock said he's confident Georgians will welcome their "Afghan brothers and sisters with open arms and hearts."

"To all who are resettling in Georgia—we look forward to building a brighter future with you," the post reads.

It is so far unclear whether any of the resettlements would take place in other areas of metro Atlanta, including Cobb County.

Ike Reighard, president and CEO of Marietta-based MUST Ministries, said his organization reached out to the office of U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, last month as the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan ramped up, "to see if MUST could play any type of role in helping with the resettlement of people and just providing basic things for those families that pretty much left with the clothes on their backs."

As of now, Reighard said he's not sure how many, if any, Afghans or families will be resettled locally, but he said he's waiting to hear whether or not some people from the "planeloads of children" that left Afghanistan and landed in another country temporarily will be resettled in the Cobb area.

"At this stage, we've not had a confirmation that anyone is coming in, but we're certainly ready to step in and help in every way we can in such a crisis type of situation," he said.

Reighard said his organization is able to offer help with food, clothing, finding jobs and securing housing, which he said, "is tough as it is," given a lack of affordable housing.

Federal, state and county officials, as well as officials with nonprofits assisting with resettlement, did not respond to requests for comment by press time Sunday on whether refugees would come to Cobb.

In an interview with the MDJ last month, Gov. Brian Kemp said he would be open to taking in Afghans who worked with U.S. forces during the 20-year war there but said he would "have to learn much more about" plans to resettle other Afghan refugees in the U.S. before making a decision on whether he'd take them in the state.

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff also weighed in on the issue in a news conference in Marietta last month, saying he didn't believe resettlement of Afghans who worked with U.S. forces would be a partisan issue.

"There's overwhelming support among the American public for ensuring that those Afghans who served alongside our military personnel have the opportunity to evacuate," Ossoff said. "The vetting must be robust of those who will resettled in the United States. I think there's broad bipartisan support for supporting our allies."

Inspiritus, one of the resettlement agencies in Atlanta that contracts with the U.S. State Department to help resettle asylum seekers says it is preparing to resettle 150 Afghans in Atlanta and 50 in Savannah in the next six months.

The International Rescue Committee, or IRC, likewise says it is preparing to welcome "hundreds of Afghan arrivals" to Atlanta in the coming months and has already taken in 20 people over the last two weeks.

In a statement on the organization's website, IRC Executive Director Justin Howell said the nonprofit sees the resettlement as "a marathon and not a sprint."

Other Georgia nonprofits, including in Savannah, have reported they are prepared to take in thousands of refugees in coming years.

Follow Thomas Hartwell on Twitter at twitter.com/MDJThomas.