More Afghan refugees arrive at Fort McCoy, Republican Congressmen visit

 

FORT MCCOY Wis. (CBS 58) -- Republican Congressmen from Wisconsin got their chance to tour Fort McCoy as more Afghan refugees arrive.

Reps. Mike Gallagher (WI-08), Glenn Grothman (WI-06), Bryan Steil (WI-01), Tom Tiffany (WI-07), and Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05) met with officials who say there's now 2,000 people housed at the facilities. That number is expected to reach 3,00 by the end of Friday, lawmakers said.

"It was very heartfelt to see the soldiers doing their best to make the Afghans here comfortable, we saw some soldiers playing bags with Afghan children," said Gallagher.

The trip comes after Senator Ron Johnson and state lawmakers made a visit to Fort McCoy on Wednesday. Lawmakers continued to raise doubts in the vetting process about thousands of Afghanistan citizens coming to the U.S.

"When you dig a little deeper into the visas and the legalities, we still have a lot of questions," said Fitzgerald.

President Joe Biden emphasized Afghan refugees will be thoroughly vetted before arriving in the U.S. with biometric and biographic screenings to ensure their identity.

Republicans were also enraged about the U.S. service members and Afghans killed in the two bombing attacks at Kabul's airport.

Some called on the Biden administration to extend the August 31st deadline to withdrawal troops from Afghanistan, a deadline Biden said he's sticking with.

"We can't leave people behind, that creates an incredible dangerous situation and an opportunity for the Taliban or any bad action in the county to take America citizens hostage," Gallagher said.