As Afghan evacuees are being resettled across the U.S., an experienced law enforcement officer sends a practical warning to communities that are receiving the refugees.
American Family News spoke to Sheriff Michael Chapman, who has served as sheriff of Virginia’s Loudoun County for 10 of his 44 years in law enforcement.
On February 4, Chapman’s office received word from the Federal Protective Service of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that the National Conference Center (NCC) in Loudoun County would begin temporarily housing Afghan refugees. The sheriff was informed that the group comprised former interpreters and their families, and that only about 30% were able to speak English.
Chapman was informed that within weeks, thousands of Afghan evacuees would be shuttled through nearby Dulles International Airport with 1,000 of these individuals being housed at the NCC for several weeks until relocation – and that this process would continue until September.
Having been given zero forewarning, Chapman considered the unplanned responsibility “a big bomb to drop.” And he was particularly alarmed at first because the NCC is located in a residential area with no fencing or other security measures in place around the corporate training facility.
“[NCC] is within walking distance of several homes, a high school, and a middle school,” he points out.
While the sheriff had some legitimate concerns about the vetting process, Chapman indicates he was more distressed that “nobody had a plan on how this [sudden undertaking] was going to go.” He raised his concerns with a staff member of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, as well as with Mayorkas himself, and also publicly addressed the agency’s impromptu request in a press release on February 17.
While DHS may not have been eager to make a public comment, the Loudoun County sheriff says he answers to the citizens he served and found it necessary to keep them informed.
“[That’s why I called] a meeting of everybody I thought had a legitimate stakeholder interest in the ordeal and would be impacted by it – and the community had a right to know what’s going on,” he tells AFN.
Questions that demand answers
Prior to going public with what he had been told by DHS, the sheriff found that many people in the county felt they had not been properly informed of the plan.
“I’m not inconsiderate of Afghans who put their lives on the line, but this was all about planning and organization,” Chapman explains, “[and] people need to know what’s coming – [particularly] considering that this was going to impact their neighborhood.
“I can’t do anything to facilitate or prevent it, but this is a deal between DHS and NCC,” he adds.
Accepting the inevitable, he felt several questions required an answer, including but not limited to the following:
– Did anyone contact fire and rescue?
– Did anyone contact medical personnel?
– Was the local hospital contacted?
– Did anyone contact social services?
– Did anyone contact mental health services?
– Was anyone contacted prior to putting the plan in place?
– How does one handle public safety and law enforcement related issues?
“Should any concerns come up, my office needed to be able to address [these questions] properly, quickly, and efficiently,” Chapman states, “[but] the answer was no to each of them because there had been no planning. It was very disconcerting.”
In conclusion, Sheriff Chapman explains he took the steps he did to inform the public and prepare for the months ahead.
“There has to be an operational plan in place,” he argues, “so that each of these things are thought about in advance – before they become issues.”
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Copyright American Family News. Reprinted with permission.
Soon under Biden and the Democrats it will be the American people themselves who will become the refugees, but will have no place left to go to, having given every enlightened place else they influenced be turned over to the dark side of humanity. Even now you can try to run from their incompetency, but there seems like there is no place to hide from them, let alone remove them from office. Nuclear war now seems the only way to cleanse America of their Dark Democrat run cities back from the brink of social extinction and immoral madness that more promotes the values of a power grabbing corrupt Putin than our enlightened freedom loving founding fathers.
THIS IS why i say, that ANY INSTANCE OF ANY entity, govt OR PRIVATE, that tries to house FOREIGNERS, whether Refugees or asylum seekers, in ANY AMERICAN TOWN< SHOULD HAVE THE full blessings of those IN THAT TOWN, before they can proceed.. NO BLESSING< then no putting foreigners in OUR damn cities!!
Maybe these Virginia voters will wake up and realize that the treasonous, socialist Democrat Party only pretends to care about those who vote for the Democrat Party.
The traitorous, dishonest, destructive, socialist Democrat Party revolves around and its philosophy is based on Total Control, Hate, Lies, Cons, Deceptions, Immorality and the lack of Integrity, Ethics or Honor.
Socialist Democrats are willing to destroy themselves and everyone around them before they will agree to compromise their failed policies and their destructive self-fabricated lies and beliefs.
IT’s slowly waking up, but is it too little, too late???
As per usual, the Democrats come up with and impliment a plan without having fully thought it out allowing fon contingencies. They passed the ACA then let the bureaucrats work out the details withour Congressional oversight. From the Southern border they dumped people willy-nilly into communities ill-prepared and unsuspecting. Now local authorities are expected to pick up the loose ends of a problem that the Federal government should be handling or at least begiving guidelines for.
That’s because to THEM IN powre.. THEY make the call.. WE have to live with the repercussions.