'Morally Outrageous': Julie Johnson Slams Trump For Revoking TPS For Afghans Who Served With US

Forbes Breaking News

During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX) criticized the Trump administration for revoking temporary protected status for Afghans who fought with US troops against the Taliban.

Transcript

00:00So ordered. Ms. Johnson, you're now recognized for your five minutes.

00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to respond to a couple of the comments. The gentleman that was

00:10implying that illegal immigration benefited democratic states is the most ridiculous thing

00:15I've ever heard of. I live in Texas. We have, I don't think anyone can state that there's a state

00:21out there that has more immigrants in it than the state of Texas, and it's very Republican.

00:25It's very red, and I also resent the hell out of the comment. I'm a duly elected member of Congress

00:31by citizens of my district, and to imply that Democrats are not elected by citizens of this

00:37country is outrageous and offensive, and you should be ashamed of yourself.

00:42Next, you know, Mr. Chairman, you know, recipients of humanitarian parole programs, they don't want

00:49to leave their countries. They're here because they're fleeing harm and persecution, and we are

00:53the United States of America. We're supposed to be a beacon of refuge, a place that says,

00:58give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses. We're here, but we're neglecting these

01:04very words by virtue of this committee hearing and what's happening in this Congress. In May,

01:09the administration announced the termination of temporary protected status for our Afghan allies,

01:13the brave Afghans who put their lives on the line to support our U.S. troops.

01:17You give all this sanctimony about protecting our first, our lines of enforcers of ICE, but what

01:24about the troops? What about the people who put their lives on the line in foreign countries,

01:28and we had to solicit assistance from brave people in this country who risked their lives to make sure

01:36that our troops were safe and that our mission could be handled? And now, and we said to them,

01:41if you help us, we will be there for you, but not anymore. So now, the U.S. is home to over 200,000

01:50Afghan allies. President of the non-profit Afghan EVAC and military vet, Sean Van Dever, said,

01:57we made a promise to our Afghan allies, and fulfilling that promise is not just a policy.

02:02It's about integrity. It's about honor and honoring the commitment. Thousands of troops are rallying behind

02:08our Afghan allies because they know that countless American lives there were saved because of them

02:14and their bravery. They bled and died for our country, and how are we repaying them? By sending

02:20them back with a death sentence. I find that to be morally outrageous. It is wrong. What is happening?

02:30What is happening? All you who've served bravely in our military, who love to parade pomp and circumstance

02:38about the role and honor of our U.S. military, and here we have citizens of another country who will be

02:46killed and executed because they helped our men and women who bravely serve. That is not the America

02:56America that we all know we should be.

03:02And I think, to the other point, you're complaining about ICE and masks. I think it's wrong that ICE agents

03:10are masking themselves, hiding themselves, not properly identifying themselves. And the question is not,

03:17do you not support the men who serve in law enforcement's country? Because we all do.

03:23But maybe you should be questioning the mission. Why is there so much pushback? Why is there so much

03:30outrage of how they're handling their mission? Why are we not questioning that? I think we are.

03:36That the way they're doing it by running up on people, by coming and attacking people who are in

03:41this country legally. This country said, yes, you have temporary protected status. Yes, you can come here.

03:49You've come the right way. And now we're saying, within very short notice, get the hell out.

03:56That is not fair. That is not right. That's putting these people who come here to fulfill their American dream.

04:06The tired, the poor, the huddled masses come here and you can be free.

04:12It's just so wrong. And I think what we're seeing here is an outrage by the American people.

04:22And it's the leadership of this administration that is sending these agents into dangerous, harmful activities

04:31that are causing such a public outcry. Mr. Byer, I have a question. Can you please explain the

04:38consequences for the lives of these Afghans and what's going to happen to them when America breaks

04:45its promise to them and sends them back to be executed in Afghanistan for helping the United

04:51States of America? Yeah, so about 70,000 Afghans were paroled into the United States. They came

04:56legally during the evacuation. I guess the opposition to that would be that we should have left them all

05:03there to be killed. I prefer that we did what we did. Some bad actors were part of that group.

05:11We identified those people. And that's appropriate. That's what vetting should do. But the vast majority

05:18of the people that we evacuated were people that we should be protecting. And we should allow them to

05:23stay here permanently with a permanent status. We shouldn't have a temporary protected status. We

05:29should allow them to stay permanently. And there's legislation to do that.

05:32Right. Because the gentle ladies time has expired now.

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