That weekend, there was bipartisan support in Texas for sheltering Afghan evacuees at the million-acre Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, near the Mexican border.

However, an immigration rights expert warned both that those fleeing the Taliban may have to stay at the facility for up to a year while it is processed for relocation, and that the grass-roots level may have been raised due to concerns about the conditions for detained migrant children ” not sure ”is there after crossing the southern border.

The Biden administration is being sued for handling the children at the base.

Amid chaotic scenes at Kabul airport, fears grew that the US would be able to bring out Afghan nationals who have supported military, diplomatic and other efforts over the past 20 years. The capital fell to the Taliban last Sunday after the Afghan government and military collapsed.

In remarks in the White House on Friday, Joe Biden attempted to reassure the Afghan allies, although safe transit for non-Americans is far from safe.

“We will do everything in our power to enable safe evacuation for our Afghan allies, partners and Afghans who might be targeted because of their connection with the United States,” the president said.

On Saturday, a Pentagon official told reporters that 22,000 people had been moved to Fort Bliss.

In El Paso, Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar tweeted her approval of housing refugees at the local base.

“I support them [Department of Defense’s] Decision to consider Fort Bliss and other US military locations to relocate vulnerable refugees, ”she wrote. “America must act quickly to get our partners out of harmony, and El Paso is ready to welcome them and their families.”

John Cornyn, one of two Texas Republicans in the US Senate, said Fort Bliss officials “felt they had more than enough room to accommodate the Afghan refugees”.

But Fort Bliss is also home to a tented camp for unaccompanied migrant children who arrive from Mexico without parents or guardians.

The Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services (HHS) has stated that Fort Bliss can accommodate up to 5,000 such unaccompanied children and is now home to 2,551 at what the Biden administration calls an Emergency Reception Center (EIS) where operations were performed made more difficult by the coronavirus pandemic.

A lawsuit was filed in California earlier this month by lawyers representing migrant children accusing the government of exposing children at Fort Bliss to “shockingly unfortunate conditions,” the CBS first reported.

“Minimum standards and inadequate supervision at EIS have exposed thousands of children to unacceptable conditions that threaten their safety and well-being,” said the lawsuit filed by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law and the National Center for Youth Rights.

Vice President Kamala Harris did not involve the Army base when she visited El Paso in June, despite several reports pointing to poor conditions, long detention periods and even mistreatment in the tent camp, which sparked an investigation by the HHS watch dog.

Bilal Askaryar, communications coordinator for the Afghan immigration group Welcome With Dignity, said reports of this kind are worrisome to evacuees from Kabul.

“We shouldn’t take refugees from evacuation into custody,” Askaryar said.

Fort Bliss is not expected to provide permanent or semi-permanent shelter for Afghans, but rather a processing center before families are relocated in the US. However, the lack of legal representation to support migrant children raises further questions.

“Afghan refugees could stay at Fort Bliss or other similar facilities for up to a year while their cases are being processed,” Askaryar said. “The latest track record suggests that Fort Bliss is not a safe place for even a few days.”

Fort Bliss officials directed questions to the Pentagon, which refused to comment beyond the press briefing earlier this week.

The HHS Administration for Children and Families, which operates the EIS at Fort Bliss, did not respond when asked if they would also operate the site for Afghan refugees.

As of Thursday, the El Paso district judge and local immigration officers had not been informed of whether refugees could be relocated to the El Paso community. Refugee service groups were expected to relocate families with the help of non-governmental organizations in various locations across the country.

The Texas Refugee Service estimates that a total of around 300 Afghan refugees will be relocated to major cities in the state. El Paso District Judge Ricardo Samaniego said he had requested a meeting with Fort Bliss Commander Maj. Gen. Sean Bernabe, but it was not scheduled until Friday.

Fort Bliss, a US Army base for more than 150 years, is located between Texas and New Mexico. Today it houses the 1st Armored Division and more than 160,000 people, including members of the military and their families.