Former senior Trump administration advisor Stephen Miller reportedly balked at the idea of resettling more Afghan refugees during a cabinet meeting in 2018, telling the room that the refugees would create “Iraqs,” and “Stans,” in the US, according to CNN.
Miller pushed an unapologetically xenophobic immigration policy during the Trump administration, helping ideate the Muslim ban and other policies which broke down and backlogged the asylum system.
“What do you guys want?” Miller said during the meeting, according to CNN, which cited an official present during the meeting. “A bunch of Iraqs and ‘Stans across the country?”
During the meeting, then-Defense Secretary James Mattis reportedly advocated to then-President Donald Trump’s cabinet that the US should process more Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan allies who had worked with and risked their lives for the US.
Miller insisted on more security checks and “extreme vetting,” which was a trademark of the Muslim ban.
On Friday, Miller told CNN that he stands by the same kind of vetting that he advocated for, and which was implemented by the Trump administration.
This is not the first time that former Trump administration officials have singled out Miller for his stance, as a former Pence adviser criticized his “racist hysteria” towards immigrants in late August.
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