Pentagon says Fort Bliss now housing 2,000+ Afghans as Cruz questions vetting
FORT BLISS, Texas -- The Pentagon announced Friday afternoon that Fort Bliss is currently housing 2,160 Afghan refugees and the preparations continue to house thousands more.
Defense officials also said that only one refugee of the initial 1,200 to arrive at Bliss tested positive for Covid-19.
Meantime, University Medical Center told ABC-7 that they had seen 25 refugees so far, but only two were admitted to the hospital - with one of them being an expectant mother.
As the Pentagon was holding its briefing, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) took an aerial tour of the Dona Ana installation at Bliss, which is where the Afghan evacuees are being held.
Cruz said while believes the refugees should be rescued, he doesn't think they should be housed in the U.S. immediately because he doesn't trust the vetting process.
"They're being told that these individuals are vetted, but the leadership here at Fort Bliss is not engaged in the vetting themselves. And when you are bringing in tens of thousands of refugees with limited vetting from an area where radical Islamic terrorism is prevalent, you are inviting a subsequent terrorist attack," Cruz told reporters at a news conference following the tour.
But the commander of the U.S. Northern Command, Gen. Glen Van Herck, said at the Pentagon briefing that he's "very comfortable" with the vetting process of the refugees who are currently here in the U.S. He noted that the screening takes place before the evacuees are sent to Bliss or other military installations.
