California students, parents stranded in Afghanistan amid Taliban takeover
Cajon Valley Union School District President Tamara Otero joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss dozens of California students and parents stranded in Afghanistan after a summer trip abroad.
"Some" of the estimated 27 students from Sacramento who were stranded in Afghanistan as of Tuesday after U.S. troops left Kabul "may be in transit" out of the country.
The San Juan Unified School District, where the students and their 19 families are from, told Fox News on Wednesday that the numbers of students stuck in and leaving Afghanistan "continue to change rapidly."
NO UPDATE FROM BIDEN ADMIN ON 24 SACRAMENTO STUDENTS TRAPPED IN AFGHANISTAN
"We believe that some of these families may be in transit out of Afghanistan, as we have not been able to reach many of them in the last few days," school district communications director Raj Rai said in a statement. "We stand ready to support these students and families in whatever way that we can, and are working closely with state officials to provide them information as we receive it from our families."
The school district has been in contact with "multiple congressional offices to coordinate information and offer help," including California Democratic Rep. Ami Bera's office.
Hundreds of people gather near a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane at a perimeter at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday. (Associated Press)
Bera’s office on Tuesday confirmed in an email to Fox News that it "urgently flagged this with the Department of Defense and State Department" but had "not received an update from DOD or State." The congresswoman's office confirmed on Wednesday morning that it still had not heard from anyone within the Biden administration.
Rai previously told The Sacramento Bee that 29 students from 19 families were stranded in the country.
2 CALIFORNIA FAMILIES POTENTIALLY STILL STRANDED IN AFGHANISTAN, 6 OTHERS EVACUATED
Bera began working with the school district after reading the Bee’s previous reporting on the subject.
The Cajon Valley Union School District is also reporting that one of its families is still stuck in Afghanistan after all U.S. troops left the country on Monday.
The White House and DoD referred Fox News to the State Department, which said in a statement that "while the U.S. government has withdrawn its personnel from Kabul," the Department will "continue to assist U.S. citizens and their families in Afghanistan from Doha, Qatar."
"We also continue our efforts to help Lawful Permanent Residents, as well as the many Afghans who have stood with us over the years, who are seeking to leave Afghanistan," a State Department spokesperson said. "Due to privacy considerations, we cannot comment on specific cases."
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El Cajon and Sacramento have large refugee populations, and students were likely visiting relatives in Afghanistan over the summer before U.S. withdrawal efforts were underway.
The State Department issued a Level 4 travel advisory — the most severe travel advisory level — on Tuesday "due to civil unrest, armed conflict, crime, terrorism, kidnapping and COVID-19," an alert on the department's website reads.
Fox News' Houston Keene contributed to this report.
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