Stephen Miller’s ‘racist hysteria’ blocked aid to Afghans: former Pence adviser

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A former Mike Pence national security adviser blasted Donald Trump and Stephen Miller on Friday. She claimed the couple were actively working against the visa process for Afghans helping American troops. The United States is now in the process of evacuating tens of thousands of Afghan allies. Loading Something is loading.

A former national security official blamed the Trump administration and Stephen Miller’s “racist hysteria” for obstructing the visa application process for Afghans working with the United States.

Olivia Troye worked as Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence. In a Twitter thread on Friday, she lambasted the Trump administration for its handling of special immigrant visa (SIV) programs that pave the way for residency in the United States for locals who have worked with the US government in Afghanistan.

“There were cabinet meetings about this during the Trump administration where Stephen Miller peddled his racist hysteria about Iraq and Afghanistan. He and his facilitators across the government would undermine anyone working on the resolution. of the SIV problem by devastating the system to DHS and the state, ”Troye wrote.

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Since the Taliban quickly took control of Afghanistan on Sunday, the United States has struggled to evacuate the Americans as well as tens of thousands of Afghan allies who have worked with the United States over the past two decades. .

The Biden administration has come under heavy criticism from both sides of the aisle for its handling of the US troop withdrawal and subsequent evacuations. But criticism has also been directed at the Trump administration, including Miller in particular.

Olivia de Troye (@OliviaTroye) August 20, 2021

Troye said she was working on the SIV issue but was “nowhere” because allies of President Donald Trump and Miller at the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and others security agencies “have made an already cumbersome SIV process even more difficult.”

She said many in the administration thought the issue was urgent, but many were afraid to oppose the president’s allies, adding that there were “many closed-door meetings” to define strategies on how to solve the problem.

“Trump had FOUR – while putting this plan in place – to evacuate those Afghan allies who were the lifelines for many of us who spent time in Afghanistan,” she said. “The process slowed down to a trickle for critics / other ‘priorities’ and then stopped.”

Afghanistan war veteran told CNN this week Miller “should be held responsible for war crimes” for opposing resettlement of Afghans at risk, and “complicit” in their deaths .

Miller is an advocate for tough immigration limits. In an appearance on Fox News Tuesday night, Miller said that “those who advocate for the mass resettlement of Afghans are doing so for political, not humanitarian reasons,” adding that it would also cost too much.

“The United States of America has never, ever promised, in writing or not, to the Afghan people that if after 20 years they were unable to secure their own country, we would take them to ours. This is nonsense. It was never the policy of the US government, ”Miller said.

Insider has contacted Trump and Troye’s office for comment. Stephen Miller could not be reached immediately for comment.

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