A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
We're going to turn now to how the Trump administration is launching a new immigration crackdown following the deadly attack targeting National Guard troops near the White House. Christopher Purdy joins us now. He's an Army National Guard veteran and the founder of the Chamberlain Network. It's a pro-democracy veterans group. He's also part of the Evacuate Our Allies Coalition, which supports Afghan refugees in the United States.
Christopher, last night President Trump threatened to permanently pause migration from poorer nations. If that were to happen, would it make America any safer, as the president claims it would?
CHRISTOPHER PURDY: Thanks, A. Well, first, I want to say, my condolences to the Beckstrom family. Specialist Beckstrom represented the best of Americans, those few who would volunteer to serve our country in uniform. And when we look around and see why these folks are being deployed to our cities, we have to wonder now, what is the purpose? And especially that this is, you know, coming out that an Afghan did this horrible act.
We know that rejecting immigrants into this country is not going to make us safer. The folks who were brought in under the 2021 evacuation were thoroughly vetted, as your previous speaker said, and there were plenty of opportunities for Congress to act and re-vet these folks in '22 and '23 by passing the Afghan Adjustment Act, but they didn't do it. And we have to ask ourselves, what are we going to do about that now?
MARTÍNEZ: I was going to ask you about the mission of the National Guard's D.C. deployment, if it's worth it, considering what has now happened.
PURDY: Yeah. Every time a soldier goes out on patrol, elected leaders who put them out on - in uniform on the streets have to ask themselves, is this worth it? And I can't think of a reason why, after seeing this attack, that any elected leader would say, this is worth it. We know that if crime is an issue, that a local elected official should be putting out law enforcement officers.
There are over 100,000 federal law enforcement officers who can do this job better than the National Guard. And they should be the ones out there stopping crime, not putting our service members, especially from outside of the district, into D.C.
MARTÍNEZ: So considering, Christopher, as you just admitted, that you're wondering if it's worth it, the president also ordered 500 more troops to be deployed to D.C. I mean, would more make a difference somehow?
PURDY: No, no. Unfortunately, these troops are coming in, they're going to escalate the situation. The president only knows how to escalate in this environment. What would be helpful is if governors took a look at their forces and forces that they volunteered to go to D.C. and see, is this really the best use of my National Guard? And I'd hope that they'd reconsider this deployment and bring them back.
MARTÍNEZ: So let's turn now to how this shooting is affecting Afghans, both those already in the U.S. and those seeking to enter. Your group supports Afghan immigrants and refugees whose immigration request, the Trump administration says, it's going to stop. What will that mean for them?
PURDY: There are thousands of Afghans who are around the world right now waiting for America to fulfill its promise to them, a promise that we gave over a handshake over 20 years. And after 2021, we worked really hard to fulfill that promise. These thousands of Afghans are now going to have to wait further and potentially have risked their lives by the Taliban. And that is incredibly dangerous, not only to the Afghans themselves, but also to our national security. Our partners are going to be looking at this and seeing if we ever have a future conflict, will the United States be there for me, or will they turn their back on me?
MARTÍNEZ: Considering, though, that the suspected shooter previously served in one of Afghanistan's elite counterterrorism units operated by the CIA and was granted asylum earlier this year, has the government's vetting been rigorous enough?
PURDY: So those who came out through Operation Allies Welcome and the aftermath of the evacuation, they went through rigorous vetting. You mentioned that the Trump administration granted him asylum this year. There was no reason for anyone to doubt that he had a credible fear of persecution, given his role in - with the CIA.
But there are, you know, ways to improve this. There are ways to, you know, help the folks who are here who have been brought over, who have not been granted legal permanent residency, which creates an enormous amount of stress on Afghan communities, or any immigrant community. So I think that the vetting was solid and was good. We have to wait to see what the motive is of this - the shooter.
MARTÍNEZ: Just a few seconds left here, Christopher. You mentioned how for you, it's important that America, the United States, kind of fulfills its promise it's made to Afghans that have helped the United States. If the United States doesn't do this, do you feel it is a stain on the country's world reputation?
PURDY: Yeah, absolutely. And unfortunately, I think the way that we have managed this evacuation from the beginning, it's been a stain. And so this is just another continued attack on our American values by shutting down immigration, by stopping the vetting and the processing of special immigrant visas. This is really going to hurt our image in the world.
MARTÍNEZ: Christopher Purdy is the founder of the Chamberlain Network. He's also worked on Afghan resettlement in the U.S. Christopher, thanks again for your time.
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