BELEN, NM (AP) – A unit of the New Mexico Army National Guard is deployed to the United States to support Afghan refugee resettlement operations.

A departure ceremony was held for the Belen-based 919th Military Police Company on Friday, the guard said in a statement that did not specify where the unit’s soldiers would be deployed.

Afghans relocating to the United States are temporarily housed at eight military bases while obtaining special immigrant visas.

The bases include Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico and the Army’s Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

WE. military officials said there had been scattered reports of assaults, robberies and robberies at some of the bases, including an assault on a female serviceman by several men at Fort Bliss.

According to the guard, the soldiers of the 919th “will conduct security operations and assist units which are already providing transport, temporary accommodation, culturally appropriate food, medical examinations, religious accommodation and general support to more than 50,000 guests. Afghans ”.

Afghans include former interpreters and others who have worked with the US military in Afghanistan for the past two decades.

The guard called the deployment “an opportunity for the 919th to perform its duties in a critical real world environment.”