PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The family of a interpreter who helped U.S. forces in Afghanistan are among the first Afghan evacuees heading to Rhode Island.
The family of six are scheduled to arrive in the state next week, WJAR-TV reported Thursday.
Rhode Island is preparing to accept more than 200 evacuees following the U.S. military withdrawal from the country in August. WJAR reports the family has been living on a U.S. military base while they waited to settle in Rhode Island. The interpreter’s wife is eight months pregnant with their fifth child.
Residents in the state have penned letters to welcome their new neighbors, who are fleeing the persecution of the Taliban.
Massachusetts welcomed its first refugees from Afghanistan last month. That state expects to receive about 1,100 evacuees.
Some 37,000 Afghans are expected to arrive in the U.S. as part of the first wave of evacuees.
