Senate Republican: ‘We want to welcome Afghan evacuees who are fully vetted’

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said on Sunday that Afghans being evacuated from their county amid a Taliban takeover would be welcomed into the U.S., so long as they were “fully vetted.”

During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” host Martha Raddatz asked Ernst about whether she and her Senate Republican colleagues would welcome those fleeing Taliban rule as several countries around the world won’t accept them or running out of room to house them.

‘Well, we want to welcome those that are fully vetted. That is extremely important that we make sure they are vetted before they touch down on American soil. And that is why it is so important that we continue working with these third country nations, providing them whatever support we can within those countries,” Ernst told Raddatz.  “And this is where President Biden, unfortunately, has really — he has messed it up.”

Pressed on whether the U.S. would welcome Afghan refugees, @SenJoniErnst tells @martharaddatz: “We want to welcome those that are fully vetted…that is extremely important that we make sure that they are vetted before they touch down on American soil.” https://t.co/VfgGeUIloj pic.twitter.com/pfifdmfLcC

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) August 22, 2021

Ernst placed blame on Biden for chaos that has ensued over the last week in which he ordered some U.S. troops be sent back to Afghanistan to assist in the evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies. 

“This whole thing has been a debacle. It falls right on President Biden’s shoulders, no matter how many fingers he’s pointing at other agencies and other administrations, this falls directly on his shoulders, haphazard planning, no real plan to evacuate American citizens, now we’ve had to go in and over more than double the number of troops that we had in just a few months ago in order to safely get Americans out,” Ernst said. “We know that they’re in jeopardy. We want to see them safely back with their families here in the United States.”