LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — It was the end of August when American troops pulled out of Afghanistan to try and end the war.
That led to a rapid response to get thousands of Afghan civilians out of the country as the Taliban began taking over.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson agreed to let some of those refugees find a new home here in Arkansas, and now they have arrived.
"One family in particular who was reaching out to someone on the base that they had met said, 'Come to Arkansas! It's great,'" said Jennifer Verkamp-Ruthven, Director of Catholic Immigration Services.
The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock is helping find homes for 49 refugees. When they arrive at the airport, they are greeted by sponsors and an interpreter.
"They also go through a very short and simple orientation, which is just about safety, you know, emergency contacts and then basically housing safety, because a western household is going to look a lot different than where they came from," said Verkamp-Ruthven.
The Catholic Diocese is also in the process of hiring a new case worker to help with resettlement and interpreting for the families.
In Northwest Arkansas, Canopy NWA is a non-profit that helps refugees. They are taking the other half of those coming to the state.
"We have had over a thousand people call or email our office with offers to volunteer which is just tremendous," said Joanna Krause, Canopy NWA Executive Director.
Krause said several people have offered temporary housing. The organization has to be ready at a moment's notice, because they could get a family in as little as 48 hours from when they are told they are coming.
All refugees that come to America go through security checks and get up to date on vaccinations.
The process is managed by the department of homeland security.