Yes, it’s true. The State Department was going to make American citizens pay for their evacuation home from Afghanistan. The price tag? $2,000
According to the New York Post, the State Department was forced to scrap the plan after social media outrage from people who took notice.
The cost of $2,000 was posted to a State Department website (see below) and was highlighted by Politico, and a State Department spokesman confirmed and stood by the claim:
“U.S. law requires that evacuation assistance to private U.S. citizens or third-country nationals be provided ‘on a reimbursable basis to the maximum extent practicable.’”
After John Cooper of the Heritage Foundation tweeted, “Oh, you’d like to escape the Taliban? That’ll be one month’s rent, please,” the outrage spread like wildfire on social media.
“Oh, you’d like to escape the Taliban? That’ll be one month’s rent, please.”
— John Cooper (@thejcoop) August 19, 2021
The information from the State Department:
The State Department was going to require American citizens to pay $2,000 per person to get home. Were the Afghanis also required to pay $2,000?
State Dept Overseas Security Advisory Council: “Repatriation flights are not free, and passengers will be required to sign a promissory loan agreement and may not be eligible to renew their U.S. passports until the loan is repaid. Cost may be $2,000 or more per person.”
Putting American citizens last…
On this flight, there were 165 Americans and 640 Afghanis:
The US military said they don’t know how many Americans are still in Kabul.
French and British troops are entering the Afghan capital to bring their citizens home, but the US military is not.
