A former White House Homeland Security official has accused the Trump administration of deliberately obstructing visa processing for US allies in Afghanistan.
In a series of posts on Twitter, Olivia Troye, who served as an aide to former Vice President Mike Pence, eviscerated the previous administration’s actions, which she said were steeped in racism.
“There were cabinet mtgs about this during the Trump Admin where Stephen Miller would peddle his racist hysteria about Iraq and Afghanistan” she wrote, adding that Mr Miller – a senior aide and speechwriter for Donald Trump – would undermine anyone who was trying to resolve the Special Immigrants Visa issue.
Ms Troye went on to say that while Mr Pence was fully aware of the problem, it was impossible to make progress because Mr Trump and Mr Miller had “watchdogs in place” at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, State and security agencies to make the process even more difficult.
According to Ms Troye, the Pentagon weighed in, and there were memos sent from General James Mattis and others attempting to expedite the visas, but to no avail.
“Trump had FOUR years – while putting this plan in place – to evacuate these Afghan allies who were the lifelines for many of us who spent time in Afghanistan. They’d been waiting a long time. The process slowed to a trickle for reviews/other “priorities” then came to a halt.” she wrote.
Ms Troye – who resigned from her White House job in August 2020 and has previously publicly criticised the Trump administration – added that she was grateful to everyone advocating the urgency of getting American allies evacuated out of Afghanistan as soon as possible.
“It’s the least we can do for these individuals and it’s a matter of national security.” she said, warning: “The world is watching.”
Former Pence press secretary Katie Miller, who is married to Stephen Miller, told The Independent: “Stephen didn’t work on SIV policy in the White House. In fact, under President Trump, SIV grant rates increased from the previous administration.”
