FORT SMITH, Ark. — According to the Arkansas National Guard, Fort Chaffee in western Arkansas will not be utilized to house Afghan refugees.
According to the Arkansas National Guard, Fort Chaffee in western Arkansas, along with a few other sites across the nation, were being assessed as a possible location for temporary housing and processing of Afghan refugees.
The Department of Defense has already selected bases in Texas and Virginia as temporary housing facilities for Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants, along with their families and other individuals at risk recently brought to the U.S. from Afghanistan.
It wouldn't have been the first time Fort Chaffee has been the temporary home to those fleeing other war-torn nations. In the 1970s and '80s, Cuban and Vietnamese refugees stayed at the military base. In 2005, people from Louisiana impacted by Hurricane Katrina also found temporary shelter at Fort Chaffee.
Last week, during a news conference, Governor Asa Hutchinson said he would welcome any Afghan refugees looking to flee the Taliban into Arkansas.
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