A former military officer who worked with a young Afghan interpreter in Afghanistan spoke out Wednesday about the Trump administration's immigration policies.
Dewey Yopp, who is a retired Army Special Forces officer, told CBS News on Wednesday that he considers Amir, the interpreter he worked with, to be "like a son" because Amir saved his life on numerous occasions. Amir has lived in Kentucky since 2022 after receiving a green card for helping the U.S. military during the War on Terror.
However, President Donald Trump has ended temporary protected status for Afghan refugees, putting thousands of people like Amir at risk of being deported to a country where they could face harm.
"It's been a slap in the face, really, to see the programs that were in effect, to be taken away," Yopp told the outlet.
"Americans should not make a promise with Afghans, and now [you're] making a problem for them. Then why [did] you make [that] promise?" Amir added.
Yopp's comments underscore the controversial nature of Trump's immigration policies. As a presidential candidate, Trump ran on a promise to deport all immigrants in the U.S. Since taking office, his administration has set an aggressive quota of 3,000 arrests a day. Even so, CBS News reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is falling short of its goal of deporting one million people by the end of the year.
The aggressive nature of Trump's deportation policy has also caused some immigrants to live in poor conditions, according to multiple reports. The Vera Institute describes the system as "plagued by abuse and neglect."