‘We’re Welcoming Afghans, But We’re Sending Haitians Back’: Jim Acosta Asks DHS Secretary Mayorkas About ‘Contradiction’ In Refugee Policy

CNN Newsroom host Jim Acosta interviewed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday, and asked him if there was a “contradiction” between our treatment of refugees from Afghanistan as compared to the Haitians who have crossed the U.S. – Mexico border and are camping out under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas.

Acosta brought up Mayorkas’ prior comments that he expected “more than 50,000” Afghan refugees to resettle in the U.S., and quoted a reaction from Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), in which he expressed concerns about whether the refugees were being properly vetted.

The screening and vetting processes for these refugees are “multilayered,” replied Mayorkas, and “involves agencies in the intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism areas across the federal government.”

He was clear about America’s reasons for taking in these refugees:

This is who we are as a country. We stand up for the people who stood up for us. We are providing refuge to individuals who assisted us in combat in Afghanistan. We are providing refuge to vulnerable women, journalists, young kids. This is one of our greatest traditions as a country. We have committed relief to those individuals, and we are delivering it. And we are delivering it while securing the safety of the American public.

Acosta acknowledged Mayorkas talking about “this American tradition of welcoming refugees, welcoming people in need,” but then asked about the different treatment of Haitians, who had fled after a devastating earthquake and the assassination of the Haitian president. “We’re welcoming Afghans, but we’re sending Haitians back. Is there a contradiction there?”

“Not at all,” said Mayorkas. “Those two processes are quite different. We are bringing in Afghan nationals by air after they have been screened and vetted. That is a safe, orderly, and humane process.”

“That is quite different than illegal entry in between ports of entry in a time of pandemic when we have been quite clear, explicit, for months now that that is not the way to reach the United States,” he concluded. “And it will not succeed.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.