Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is calling for Afghan refugees to be swiftly expelled from the state.
In 2021, nearly 2,000 Afghan refugees resettled in Oklahoma to flee the Taliban.
The refugees, many of whom worked for American and allied organizations during conflicts there, came to Oklahoma as part of the largest non-combatant evacuation operation in U.S. military history. In collaboration with Catholic Charities, Gov. Kevin Stitt welcomed the group to the state.
But Drummond sent out a press release Thursday saying the refugees pose a safety threat, and wouldn't be eligible to enter the U.S. today. His comments came one day after President Donald Trump issued a travel ban on 20 countries, including Afghanistan.
"At great risk to public safety, Gov. Stitt partnered with the Biden Administration to import thousands of poorly vetted Afghan refugees to our state," Drummond said. "Now that President Trump has acted in the best interests of the United States by fully restricting Afghan nationals, I am demanding that Gov. Stitt reject the approval he gave to the Biden Administration so all Afghan refugees can be removed from Oklahoma."
Drummond is a Republican candidate in Oklahoma's 2026 gubernatorial election. His call to remove Afghan refugees from the state drew ire from local advocates and Gov. Kevin Stitt alike, who has maintained his support for their integration into the local community.
Stitt accused Drummond's demands of being based in "prejudice and fear tactics."
"The failure of the Biden administration to secure a safe and orderly exit from Afghanistan cost dozens of American lives and left thousands of brave Afghani citizens in danger," Stitt said in a statement. "They aided our troops in some of the most dangerous combat situations. It is unconscionable that anyone would suggest that we should have left them at the mercy of the Taliban."
Patrick Raglow, executive director of Catholic Charities, said Oklahoma's Afghan refugee population is being used as collateral in an unrelated political game.
"Really, this is a spat between Attorney General Drummond and the governor's office," Raglow said. "And the Afghans in this case are simply the shape of the rock they're throwing at each other."
He added his organization is neither for nor against either politician, and advocates only for policy and for people. Raglow pushed back against Drummond's claims that Oklahoma's Afghan refugees were not properly vetted. All of them have been vetted by the federal government, he said.
Veronica Laizure-Henry, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma, said Drummond's comments were met with frustration, fear and disappointment from the resettled Afghan population. Deportation, she said, would result in torture and death.
Laizure-Henry also said the latest release from Drummond is a petition to hold all Muslims accountable for the actions of a select few.
"In Oklahoma, we're very familiar with the danger of domestic terror attacks," she said. "And yet, we don't assume that everyone who looks like Timothy McVeigh holds his same views or would commit the same actions that he did."
In the press release, Drummond mentioned three instances of recent violence, including when an Oklahoma City resident and former Afghan security guard was arrested on suspicion of planning an Election Day terror attack last year.
"As a whole," Laizure-Henry said, "Our Afghan neighbors are people who just want to be able to send their kids to good schools. They want to live in safe neighborhoods. They want to be treated with the same respect and have the same rights protected as any other population in Oklahoma. And I think that that's a completely fair and reasonable thing for anyone to expect."
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