WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. – Washington State will begin accepting refugees from Afghanistan soon.
The State Department tells KOMO News that about 1700 people will be resettled across the state.
They’re part of a group of 37,000 Afghans that were able to escape the Taliban-controlled country.
U.S. Representative Rick Larsen says Whatcom County would be an ideal place for some of those refugees to be resettled.
“You have a county that really does see its role as being out into the world,” says Larsen.
Earlier this week, he and Representative Suzan DelBene encouraged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to open a refugee processing center in Bellingham to help this group from Afghanistan and refugees from other countries.