During the evacuation of Afghanistan, Republicans practically wore a hole in their shirts from all the chest-pounding over the need to rescue every last possible person who wanted to leave the nation. Every U.S. citizen, everyone who had ever worked with U.S. forces or diplomats, every person who simply didn’t want to stay under Taliban rule—they all became a sacred trust that Republicans were absolutely certain was being broken by President Joe Biden.
But even as the Republicans were mopping away crocodile tears over the thousands they were sure Biden was leaving behind, they were also reassuring their constituents that those scary Afghan refugees would not be coming to their districts. And in case they didn’t get the message, the white nationalist Republican base spoke up loud and clear: They were happy with the Biden-bashing, but that didn’t mean they were willing to accept a single refugee in their town. Notable exception: Utah. Thank you, Utah.
That gave Republicans their final script: Complain that Biden failed to get everyone possible out, and at the same time insist that, surely, there had to be better places to put those people than the United States. After all, said both right-wing pundits and politicians, wouldn’t they be better off someplace more “culturally similar” like … well, anywhere that’s not here?
On Thursday, Republicans executed the next step in this attack against Biden for not doing more to help refugees, then attack refugees strategy. In a last-minute effort, Republicans attempted to hijack the bill to keep the government running until December and use it to cut off all assistance to Afghans evacuated to the United States. That includes the same translators and others who Republicans were pretending to be concerned about just last month.
Republicans pretend to care about Afghans before they arrive. But a real, live person? No so much. Why does that seem so familiar?
As The New York Times reports, the amendment was offered by the reliably xenophobic Sen. Tom Cotton, but it wasn’t Cotton alone. Every single Republican—every one, including Utah’s own Mitt Romney—voted for Cotton’s amendment.
Not only would Cotton’s bill have cut off all funds intended to help Afghans resettle in America, it also would have made it harder for the incoming Afghans to get driver’s licenses or other IDs. By putting people who were just cut off from all official records under strict guidelines, it likely would have left many of them incapable of meeting the tough REAL ID requirements. So not only would it would have left Afghans with no funds, it would have made it almost impossible for them to find employment.
And again, every single Republican voted for this.
As The Washington Post makes clear, the amendment would have halted housing assistance, food and medical aid, and every other form of payment for Afghans evacuated to the U.S. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t have some funds related to Afghan refugees: The amendment also played on fears that those being resettled in the U.S. are secretly Taliban militants by accelerating the time table for additional vetting by the Department of Homeland Security.
So … Republicans spent weeks spraying vitriol about how every single Afghan who ever assisted the U.S. simply had to be saved. But once they were out, they refused to help them with housing, food, or medical care. And they made it extra hard for them to get IDs or integrate into society in a way that would ever allow them to become citizens.
Where have we heard that before?
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