4 days ago
AG faces criticism for call to remove Afghan refugees from Oklahoma
Attorney General Gentner Drummond, pictured Feb. 28, 2024, on Thursday called for Afghan refugees in Oklahoma to be removed. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma's attorney general said Thursday he 'demands' the removal of Afghan refugees who were resettled in the state in 2021 with Gov. Kevin Stitt's support.
Gentner Drummond, who is also a Republican candidate for governor, said the thousands of Afghan refugees were not properly vetted in 2021 and pose a threat to public safety. His statement followed a travel ban from President Donald Trump on 12 countries, including Afghanistan.
Stitt and the organizations who helped resettle around 1,800 refugees from Afghanistan in Oklahoma pushed back. They said Drummond's statement was inaccurate and creates unnecessary fear about the Afghan population in the state.
The Republican governor said in a statement Friday that the Biden administration had failed to secure a safe exit from Afghanistan, costing American lives and left Afghani citizens in danger.
'They aided our troops in some of the most dangerous combat situations,' Stitt said. 'It is unconscionable that anyone would suggest that we should have left them at the mercy of the Taliban. Individuals using their official platform to campaign for a higher office are using prejudice and fear tactics to sow discord. If the attorney general can identify laws being broken, he should use his existing authority to prosecute criminal activity. Oklahomans see through the political rhetoric.'
Drummond rebuffed Stitt's statement. He said Friday his top focus as attorney general is to ensure 'law and order,' adding that it was a public safety issue.
'We greatly value the Afghan friends and allies who assisted US forces, but federal investigations have clearly borne out that vetting was woefully insufficient,' Drummond said.
Drummond on Thursday referenced two acts of violence involving Afghan refugees, including one threat to Election Day in Oklahoma City.
Tax dollars are being used to pay for resettlement efforts and 'foreign nationals' who are not properly vetted pose a threat, he said in his statement.
'Adding insult to injury, Gov. Stitt illegally directed millions of our tax dollars to pay for resettlement expenses,' Drummond said Thursday. 'Now that President Trump has acted in the best interests of the United States by fully restricting Afghan nationals, I am demanding that Gov. Stitt reject the approval he gave to the Biden Administration so all Afghan refugees can be removed from Oklahoma.'
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But leaders of community organizations who helped with resettlement efforts said Drummond's statement is inaccurate and sows unnecessary fear about a vulnerable population.
Patrick Raglow, executive director at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, said it's 'ludicrous' to say this population is a threat for having not been vetted.
'His beef is not with the Afghan arrivals so much as it is with the governor, and this just happens to be the shape of the rock he's throwing at the governor,' he said. 'That's my personal opinion, but the statement itself is most unfortunate and factually flawed. It creates a little bit of hostility and animus in our community for those who are here, who fled violence and were not brought here to import violence.'
Raglow said in 2021, Catholic Charities was approached by Stitt to aid in the resettlement efforts after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Catholic Charities has been involved in refugee resettlement for decades.
He hopes that people draw a distinction between refugees and asylum seekers and immigrants.
'Every refugee is an immigrant. 99% of immigrants are not refugees,' Raglow said.
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Veronica Laizure, executive director of CAIR Oklahoma, said refugees undergo some of the more strict security screenings. She said she's disappointed in Drummond's words. CAIR Oklahoma is a nonprofit advocacy group working to 'enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.'
'We are pretty dismayed and disappointed that (Attorney General) Drummond feels it's appropriate to hold an entire population accountable for the actions of a very, very small minority, and that he's willing to generalize and paint all of our Afghan neighbors with the same brush,' she said. 'We live in Oklahoma, which is a state that's very familiar, painfully familiar, with the impact of domestic terrorism, and yet we don't assume that everyone who looks like Timothy McVeigh holds his same views or would commit the same actions that he did.'
Afghan refugees who came to the U.S. were individuals, or family members, who worked with the U.S. military at high risk to themselves, resulting in violence and death, Laizure said.
Islamophobia is at a high level right now, Laizure said, which puts this community on edge. She said she encourages people to reach out to people and organizations who have real experience before 'operating based on stereotypes and prejudice.'
