A former aide for former Vice President Mike Pence, Olivia Troye, is opening up about the rhetoric under the Trump administration about Afghans, calling it “hurtful” and “offensive.”
CNN’s Brianna Keilar noted during “New Day” Monday Troye sat in on meetings about getting Afghans who are eligible for relief who helped U.S. troops through the system.
She asked Troye, “What would [senior adviser to former President Donald Trump] Stephen Miller say in these meetings as he argued against relief for these individuals?”
Troye responded, “Well, it was really hard to hear his statements and they were said very openly in front of cabinet-level people, in front of every senior staff people. And he would say, ‘Well what do you guys want. Do you want a bunch of little Iraqs and stans across the country, across the United States?’ It was hurtful to hear that and offensive to many of us in the room who had served on the ground in both countries.”
She continued, “These were the people that helped keep us alive, helped navigate us around the country, and to hear this naive, hateful rhetoric being said in cabinet-level discussions when we’re making decisions specifically on items like the refugee ceiling and what was going to happen on that, to hear that kind of rhetoric, we knew what we were up against.”
Check out her comments below:
The Special Immigrant Visa process that Afghans have to apply for is very challenging, former VP Pence aide Olivia Troye says.
The number of approvals decreases every year and the number of applicants stuck and waiting increased "under the Trump administration," she adds pic.twitter.com/GCKillukqN
— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) August 23, 2021
The former Pence aide proceeded to explain how the Special Immigrant Visa process that Afghans have to go through was made more difficult under the Trump administration.
“When you look at the days of these people being stuck in the process, they were stuck for three years and that number increases under the Trump administration,” Troye said.
She recalled calling the State Department and discovering that there was one person doing security checks for thousands of people.
Keilar argued the things Miller was saying are not much different from what members of the right-wing media are saying about why those who helped the U.S. should not be allowed to come into the country.
Troye responded, “These are classic talking points that were espoused during the entire tenure of the Trump administration. This is anti-immigrant, anti-refugee rhetoric and it’s absolutely disgusting.”
President Joe Biden weighed in on the issue of Afghan refugees being admitted to the U.S. while delivering remarks Sunday.
“Planes taking off from Kabul are not flying directly to the United States. They’re landing at U.S. military bases and transit centers around the world,” Biden said.
He added, “At these sites where they are landing, we are conducting thorough … security screening for everyone who is not a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident. Anyone arriving in the United States will have undergone a background check.”
According to the president, once they are screened, “We will welcome these Afghans who helped us in the war effort over the last 20 years to their new home in the United States of America. Because that is who we are, that is what America is.”