The Hazleton Standard-Speaker is reporting that the Keystone Job Corps Center in Drums, Pennsylvania will soon be accepting refugees from Afghanistan, about five months after President Joe Biden’s chaotic withdrawal of American troops from that country. The disastrous episode resulted in the deaths of 13 American service members, stranded unknown numbers of Americans and cooperative Afghans, and abandoned billions of dollars in functional military hardware to the conquering Taliban.
Former mayor and congressman Lou Barletta, leading Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, issued the following statement:
“The United States is the most welcoming nation in the world, and we absolutely should do everything we can to shelter the people who have been helping us in Afghanistan over the twenty years of American presence in that country. Those who were on our side, and those who fear for their lives, should be able to find a haven here.
“But I simply do not trust the Biden administration to do what is necessary to screen the refugees and conduct a thorough background investigation to determine exactly who it is that we’re letting into the country. As a former member of the House Homeland Security Committee, I know how difficult it is to do a complete background investigation under even the best, most stable circumstances. To accurately determine a person’s true identity and background amid the complete collapse of a government under hostile takeover is nearly impossible.
“We have already seen failures in screenings with disastrous results in other parts of the country, with refugees committing violent crimes once on American soil. And we know that the Taliban and other terrorist organizations will use our generosity against us and seek to infiltrate the refugee program. Once again, I must question how vigilant Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro have been in fulfilling their duties to protect the citizens of Pennsylvania. As we learned with the continuing secret relocation of illegal immigrants to the Commonwealth, their default position is to throw up their hands and say, ‘It’s not our job.’ Well, it is their job, and the citizens deserve to know that every precaution is being taken to protect our communities.
“When I’m governor, the people will never have to wonder if their elected leaders are doing everything in their power to keep them safe. Instead of blindly accepting the word of the Biden administration like Wolf and Shapiro, I will hold them publicly accountable, demand clear answers, and actually uphold my oath of office.”
Original source can be found here.
