Some of the Afghans being evacuated from the Kabul airport will find new homes in North Carolina if state House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) has his way.

Moore sent out a press release Tuesday, Aug. 24 stating that Moore had called Gov. Roy Cooper and urged him to open North Carolina to “our Afghan allies who have been thoroughly vetted and granted Special Immigrant Visas by the US Department of State for their service alongside our military.”

Moore noted that many of the Afghan men and women being evacuated served with multiple units from the Marine Corps Base at Camp Lejeune and the Fort Bragg army base risking their safety and security to fight with Americans against the Taliban.

Moore in a video said, “What does it say if our country does not stand up and stand by those who fought with us? We need to stand by our word.  We need to honor the commitments we made when so many folks took that oath, took a stand and put their lives on the line to fight for freedom, to fight for the ideas of America. It’s our turn to honor that commitment and do all we can to help these folks find freedom.”

In an earlier statement Moore said, “President Biden’s failure to swiftly and safely evacuate all Americans, including our wartime combat interpreters, from Kabul is an affront to the brave men and women, Afghan nationals, who were embedded with American troops and promised special immigrant visas upon their faithful service to America.  They’re now facing beating, slaughter and execution of their loved ones.  North Carolina stands ready to welcome these heroes, who are some of our bravest, but most unrecognized heroes.”

After the fall of Vietnam, veteran groups and private citizens worked to help Montagnard men who had fought along aside American troops during the Vietnam war and their families relocate to North Carolina.

Currently there are an estimated 5,000 Montagnard people in North Carolina with about half of that number living in Greensboro.