Officials in a California school district where students had already been rescued from Afghanistan believe there could “easily” be a thousand more still stuck in the country after being left behind.
Representatives from the Cajon Valley Union School District have kept in touch with Representative Darrell Issa’s office about the situation.
Based on conversations with their contacts in the Taliban-controlled country and families of those affected, they estimate more than 1,000 American students and children of Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders may still be in Afghanistan.
Cajon Valley spokesperson Howard Shen made the startling suggestion during a press conference Thursday.
“There are easily a thousand more students — American born or children of SIVs — still trapped in Afghanistan,” he said.
“There are easily a thousand more students — American born or children of SIVs — still trapped in Afghanistan,” Cajon Valley spokesperson Howard Shen said during a Thursday…”
There is no metric on the planet that can count this “evacuation” a success. Get our people home.
— John R Bruning (@JohnRBruning) September 2, 2021
RELATED: Report: 30 U.S. School Children Still Left Behind In Afghanistan
Students Left Behind In Afghanistan
Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported that “at least 24 students from the Cajon Valley Union School District in El Cajon and 16 parents are stranded in Afghanistan.”
The families, according to the newspaper, had traveled to Afghanistan on special visas for U.S. military service and had been visiting on summer vacation.
An Associated Press report on Wednesday had indicated the missing consisted of 8 families of students, 7 of whom have since been rescued from Afghanistan.
The U.S. ended its evacuation efforts and withdrew its forces on Monday, but more than 30 California children are stuck in Afghanistan after they traveled to the country to see their relatives weeks before the Taliban seized power.https://t.co/5G3JSswjdn
— 7News DC (@7NewsDC) September 2, 2021
Issa (R-CA) though, indicated along with the district officials that there is more that needs to be done to get the rest home.
“Yes, there has been some success, and we’re delighted to have these kids back in school and their parents, united,” Issa said.
“But we also know that there’s a lot more work to do and that working through official channels and with foreign countries and with unofficial channels is going to take a lot of work.”
Issa believes there may be “thousands” or “tens of thousands” of people still “languishing in Afghanistan” or “neighboring countries waiting to come” home to America.
JUST IN: Representative Darrell Issa confirms he is working to get Americans out of Afghanistan, avoiding contact with the Taliban. @EricBolling. pic.twitter.com/2bmyStDXgN
— Newsmax (@newsmax) September 1, 2021
Biden Hails Successful Mission
Despite reports surfacing of an untold number of students and children being stuck in Afghanistan, President Biden has hailed his withdrawal effort as an “extraordinary success.”
He’s gone so far as to imply that any Americans still stuck in Afghanistan are there because of their own decisions.
The federal government, he said, had “reached out 19 times to Americans in Afghanistan, with multiple warnings and offers to help them leave.”
After trumpeting the mission that killed 13 U.S. soldiers as having unfolded as “designed,” Biden blames the Americans left behind in Afghanistan for putting themselves in this position, insisting it’s likely many of them like it there. pic.twitter.com/VtbuZQukcU
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 31, 2021
In reality, access to Kabul airport where Americans and these students would have had to travel to escape Afghanistan was riddled by security issues due to Taliban control.
A fact underscored by a suicide bombing that took the lives of 13 service members and was reportedly aided by the perpetrator slipping past a Taliban checkpoint.
President Biden has said, “We remain committed to get them (Americans) out if they want to come out.”
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby has said, “We don’t believe the effort is concluded,” when discussing those left behind in Afghanistan.
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