PEORIA, Ill. (WAND) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker said refugees who helped American troops in Afghanistan will be welcome in Illinois.
“If there is an opportunity and there are refugees that come to the United States as a result of our ability to get them out I hope Illinois will be one place that they will be able to welcome them to,” Pritzker said at an Illinois National Guard facility in Peoria. “My own family were refugees.”
At the same event Illinois Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth stated they feel the focus should be to get Americans out of Afghanistan safely, along with Afghans who helped the U.S. over the past 20 years.
“Our troops served with great honor, with bravery, with distinction in Afghanistan,” said Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran.
Durbin and Duckworth are urging President Biden to help secure the release of Illinois resident Mark Frerichs, who was abducted by the Taliban in January 2020. Frerichs, a Navy veteran, was working in Afghanistan as a civil engineer.
