Still no word on Guam's potential role in 'Operation Allies Refuge'

The White House today officially announced the massive U-S operation to move thousands of American allies out of Afghanistan. The question remains though: where will they go?

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced the launch of "Operation Allies Refuge."

"To support relocation flights for interested and eligible Afghan nationals and their families who have supported the United States and our partners in Afghanistan, and are in the SIV application pipeline," she said. 

The objective is to remove afghan allies out of the country in advance of the Sept. 11 deadline for withdrawal of US troops. The operation is being led by the State Department. Agency Spokesperson Ned Price says a group of SIV applicants who served as translators, interpreters and others that may be at some risk have been identified.

"These are individuals who at the moment have the option to be relocated outside of Afghanistan before we complete that military drawdown in order to complete their special immigrant visa processing. Importantly, these are individuals who are already in that SIV processing pipeline," he said. 

How many and where they will be evacuated to has not been disclosed because of operational and security reasons. Several congressional leaders have suggested Guam as a site and Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero is supporting the idea. The island has a history of helping others having served during the evacuation of Vietnam refugees during Operation New Life in 1975 and the evacuation of Kurds from Iraq during Operation Pacific Haven in 1996. Despite today's announcement of Operation Allies Refuge, she has not received any word on Guam's potential role.

"I know they are still in discussions and planning stages," the governor said. "It's going to be a big operation and you know they want to make sure that things are done adequately, appropriately and properly."

The White House confirms the evacuation flights will begin at the end of this month. An estimated 18,000 applicants are already awaiting visas, with an estimated 53,000 family members seeking to accompany them.