(crowd chattering)
- [Reporter] Kabul's international airport
continues to be overwhelmed
with people trying to flee Afghanistan
since the Taliban took over the capital on August 15th.
As scenes of desperation have played out,
the Taliban have threatened to block Afghans
from leaving the country,
while President Biden has doubled down on his deadline
for when U.S. troops are scheduled to leave the country.
- We are currently on a pace to finish by August the 31st,
the sooner we can finish the better.
Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops.
- [Reporter] As the deadline looms,
Afghans able to board evacuation flights
face long journeys to their host countries,
starting a resettlement process with challenges ahead.
The path to getting out of the country hasn't been clear.
One huge hurdle, documentation.
- It sounds like from people that we've interviewed,
that it mostly comes down to luck,
whether you get into the airport or not.
The first few days of the evacuation effort
it was kind of so chaotic.
They were letting a lot of people in,
including people who didn't really have valid visa
or travel documents.
And now we're kind of seeing the reverse,
people even who do have valid American visas
are going up to the gates of the airport,
waving them at American troops or Canadian troops
and still not getting into the airport.
- [Reporter] Once they are inside,
issues with document verification continue,
adding to the bottleneck.
- But a lot of cases,
you had people with fake, or even no documents,
getting into the airport in the first few days,
cramming themselves onto planes, getting out of Afghanistan.
And now partially because all that happened,
the U.S. is really prioritizing getting American citizens
and American green card holders through that gate,
and it means more Afghans are being left behind.
(crowd chattering)
- [Reporter] And there's added urgency,
as the Taliban have threatened retaliation
against Americans and others
if the U.S. remains past the deadline.
Late Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy urged
Americans outside the airport's gates to leave immediately
citing security threats.
By that point, the U.S. and its allies
had evacuated more than 88,000 people
since the Taliban closed in on Kabul on August 14th.
Military transport planes have shoveled evacuees
to hubs in Qatar, Bahrain, and Germany,
with smaller settler hubs receiving evacuees as well.
These locations have been setting up temporary beds
and tents to receive evacuees
who, in some cases, are in the middle of getting their visas
to come to the U.S..
- [Michelle] They have to go through
a pretty rigorous security process
that could sometimes take up to a year,
and so they'll need to live in those third countries
for that duration while they're waiting for their visas
to come through.
- [Reporter] There are currently a few pathways
for entry into the U.S..
Evacuees with visas,
or those who are in the visa application process can enter.
People who don't have visas
are often sent to a third country
while a security screening is completed.
Those who work for an American non-profit
or media organization,
or individuals facing political, religious,
or ethnic persecution can enter as refugees.
There's also a fourth option,
an immigration program known as parole,
which gives evacuees temporary permission
to live and work in the U.S..
Once they're in the country, they can apply for asylum,
possibly get sponsorship from family,
or wait for their visa to come through.
Those arriving in the U.S.
are initially being housed in military bases in New Jersey,
Virginia, Wisconsin, and Texas,
while other bases may eventually receive evacuees as well.
- [Michelle] They're kind of being used
as reception centers in some cases,
we have to do medical screenings on them
before they can get their visas.
In some cases, they're just being connected
with resettlement organizations in the United States
who are helping them get connected to services here.
- [Reporter] Many of these resettlement organizations
are contracted with the U.S. government.
The groups help evacuees find a place to live
and enroll their children in schools
with the aim of integrating them into American life.
- [Michelle] Anyone who gets here
has been through an extremely harrowing experience,
and we have to remember, those are the lucky ones.
(crowd chattering)