(Entrance to the National Conference Center, Leesburg, Virginia. Soon to host an interesting conference sponsored by our Department of Homeland Security).

As you might imagine, several of the key nodes of communication at Refuge Farm include military planners and veterans of other conflicts. Ukraine has their attention this morning, as it does ours. But we also recall, from other recent conflicts, that the termination of them comes with obligations and other challenges. As will the situation in Ukraine in a few weeks.

Due to our hasty flight from Afghanistan, some challenges are becoming known only now. And they are happening to a perfectly delightful county known as “Loudoun,” a former rural and agricultural jurisdiction to the northwest extreme of the Washington DC megalopolis. That place has been transformed in the maelstrom of social change over the last twenty years . It was a historically bucolic and welcoming place that has become the cockpit of turmoil on education and partisan issues. To a degree, that is happening to all of us in the Piedmont as trillions of dollars have been ladled out willy-nilly by the Federal establishment.

With an open border to our south, millions of new occupants have been “welcomed” into the nation in which we were raised. We were not asked about this, nor were we asked about who is funding the night-time flights from the areas of occupation to spread the newcomers across the land. So that is one problem about “welcoming.” But here is how it actually works.

Dulles International Airport is a marvelous facility. It is being used to accommodate mistakes made only recently. Some of them were just noticed. This is not the full press release from Loudoun’s Sheriff, but it is not altered for anything except brevity to emphasize what is happening to us all:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office
Media Relations and Communications Section
Sheriffs_PIO@loudoun.gov

Sheriff Chapman Addresses Potential Relocation of Afghan Refugees by DHS to the National Conference Center in Lansdowne.
Loudoun County, VA (February 17, 2022)- On February 4, 2022, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) received an unannounced visit by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Protective Service (FPS) in which it learned that approximately 2000 Afghan refugees, per month, were slated to arrive at the Washington Dulles International Airport during a window beginning as early as February 19, 2022, and extending to September 2022. DHS/FPS regional personnel advised the refugees would be transported by bus to the National Conference Center (NCC) where they would stay until their ultimate relocation elsewhere in the United States.

As the information was vague, Sheriff Chapman raised this issue at a committee meeting the following day in Washington, DC. (A paragraph attempting to summarize issues before addressing immediate questions about public safety and order followed. We jump ahead to the questions and comments by cognizant officials. The complete statement is available at the website listed above).
What level of vetting has been conducted to ensure refugees entering Loudoun County had aided the United States and were not a threat to the US or our local community?

DHS Response – Refugees had been carefully vetted and many served as translators. However, when asked how if in fact they served as translators when only 30% of the refugees spoke English, DHS responded that many of the incoming refugees were family members of the translators.
Considering the NCC is located within a largely residential area of Lansdowne and within walking distance of Riverside High School and Belmont Ridge Middle School, what arrangements were made with Loudoun County stakeholders to ensure the area is secure for the community?

DHS advised that the FPS would provide 15 officers for security at the NCC. However, the FPS has no law enforcement jurisdiction in Loudoun County and cannot enforce nor investigate any criminal activity on the campus.
When pressed further about safety issues, DHS stated that the NCC would be designated a federal facility. What would that mean?

Basically nothing.
What communications had been done to prepare area residents who may be impacted by this?

None.
What coordination with other Loudoun County stakeholders had been performed to this point to include Loudoun County Fire and Rescue (for medical emergencies), Loudoun County Public Schools, Loudoun County Department of Mental Health, Social Services, local hospitals, the Adams Center, or other area houses of faith, or the County government at large?
None.
What federal financial assistance would be proposed to help with the added responsibilities to stakeholders?
DHS proposed grant funding. (None will be available until well after the projected September exit date of the refugees).
Sheriff Chapman’s concerns were brought to the highest levels of DHS and on February 8th, he received a telephone call directly from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Secretary Mayorkas apologized for the lack of communication by DHS with the LCSO and other stakeholders but assured Sheriff Chapman that his concerns would be addressed.

As of this date, a draft MOU has not been produced and DHS has not yet contracted with the NCC.

(Nothing has been added to the words of Sheriff Chapman. Deleted for brevity are brief accounts of outreach by the Secretary of DHS to attempt to explain the unannounced and un-resourced relocation program. Loudoun County is the 5th largest in Virginia. The recent US census data reports the population as 437,586 with a growth rate of 1.87% in 2021. Growth since 2010 is reported as 38.7%. The number of refugees ‘estimated’ to be processed at the NCC over eight months will be approximately 8,000. There is no authorization for conversion of the NCC, no identified funding, no firm end date for the program, and no identification of plans for the ultimate resettlement of the refugees beyond Leesburg. So after they are here with us, they are going to come to visit you. In the night. With the same meticulous planning. Hat tip to Larry C, a former colleague, who lives closer to the epicenter of this latest welcoming initiative than we do).

Copyright 2022 Vic, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Department
www,vicsocotra.com