Former Pence aide faults Stephen Miller's 'racist hysteria' for US refusal to accept Afghan refugees under Trump

A former aide to former Vice President Mike Pence said the last administration deliberately obstructed visa processing for U.S. allies in Afghanistan due to the "racist hysteria" of Stephen Miller, a key adviser to former President Donald Trump.

On Friday, the former aide, Olivia Troye, who resigned from her position as a White House Homeland Security official in August 2020 and has since been critical of the Trump administration, accused Trump Cabinet meetings regarding the Middle East of being riddled with racist rhetoric and fears over taking in more refugees.

“There were cabinet mtgs about this during the Trump Admin where Stephen Miller would peddle his racist hysteria about Iraq and Afghanistan," Troye tweeted, adding that she met with "numerous external organizations" to help U.S. allies apply for visas but "the system wouldn't budge."

ABOUT 17,000 PEOPLE EVACUATED FROM KABUL IN LAST WEEK, PENTAGON SAYS

"For four years, this administration under Trump, they did nothing, and they decimated the process. They destroyed it, and it was very challenging for those of us working on these issues to really push the needle forward or get anything done," Troye said on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show Friday night.

Troye mentioned that Pence was aware of the issue, but she said it was impossible to make progress on helping more U.S. allies out of the country because Trump and Miller had "watchdogs in place" at the security agencies, as well as the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and State, who aimed to make finding refuge for allies even more challenging to accomplish.

The former Pence aide also pushed back against The Federalist's Ben Domenech, who said on Twitter Thursday that Trump "would have gotten every single American, interpreter, and piece of equipment out of Afghanistan."

"To people like Ben Domenech, JD Vance & others who are making blanket statements & pushing narratives of convenience on Afghanistan-especially on the [special immigrant visas]/allies issue-please, just stop. Your comments are uninformed & also hurtful. We see right through you," Troye tweeted in response.

Representatives for America First Legal, the conservative law firm Miller founded in April, did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner's request for comment.

President Joe Biden is facing scrutiny as many Afghans who worked alongside the U.S. military mission attempt to flee the country after Taliban insurgents cemented their control of Afghanistan on Sunday. The president harbors concerns over the political impact of Afghan refugees arriving into the United States and prefers that they travel to other nations, reports indicate. Resettlement groups have said that some 80,000 special immigrant visa applicants and their families needed to be evacuated.

The Pentagon announced Saturday that 22,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since July, and 17,000 have been evacuated since Aug. 14, the day before the Taliban took over the capital. Of the 17,000, roughly 2,500 were U.S. citizens, officials added. As of Wednesday, reports indicated up to 15,000 U.S. residents remained in Afghanistan following the Taliban insurgency.

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Biden, who announced his intent to surge additional troops to Afghanistan in recent days, pledged Friday that he would "mobilize every resource necessary" to accomplish all evacuations despite chaotic images from Kabul's airport that showed some people falling to their deaths after clinging to departing U.S. aircraft.

"Let me be clear: Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home," the president said.

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Tags: News, Mike Pence, Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Afghanistan, Taliban, Racism, Refugees, National Security, Foreign Policy, Immigration

Original Author: Kaelan Deese

Original Location: Former Pence aide faults Stephen Miller's 'racist hysteria' for US refusal to accept Afghan refugees under Trump