Tucker Carlson says Afghan refugees will ‘invade’ the US and over the next decade their numbers ‘may swell to the millions’

• Fox host Tucker Carlson ranted about the possibility of “millions” of Afghan refugees coming into the US.
• Carlson said, without citing evidence, that refugees could be resettled in American neighborhoods in the coming months.
• “So first we invade, and then we are invaded,” Carlson said during a segment on Monday.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson launched into a rant on Afghanistan during his Monday night show, claiming there was a possibility that Afghan refugees could “invade” America.

“If history is any guide, and it’s always a guide, we will see many refugees from Afghanistan resettle in our country in the coming months, probably in your neighborhood. And over the next decade, that number may swell to the millions,” Carlson said.

“So first we invade, and then we are invaded. It is always the same,” Carlson added.

Insider has reached out to Fox News for comment.

During his segment on Afghanistan, Carlson criticized Sen. Mitt Romney for his stand on Afghanistan. On August 13, Romney sent a tweet saying the US “must not stand idly by as (its) Afghan friends are brutalized by the Taliban.” In the same tweet, Romney also urged President Joe Biden to “urgently rush to defend, rescue, and give and expand asylum.”

Carlson mocked Romney’s message and said: “There’s lots of time to spare as Americans die of fentanyl ODs and millions of foreign nationals whose identities we can’t confirm move here. But when it comes to bringing Afghans to our country? There’s no time to spare!”

The US has a special program for a specific category of Afghan refugees called the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV). These visas are given to those who have worked for the US military. This includes interpreters and translators whose lives could be in immediate danger following the Taliban’s impending takeover of Afghanistan.

Department of Defense spokesman Chris Mitchell told Insider that the Department will provide “temporary housing, sustainment, and support” inside the US for up to 22,000 Afghan SIV applicants and their families. Insider reported on Monday that the Department could potentially be housing Afghan refugees in military garrisons like Fort Bliss in Texas, and Fort McCoy in Wisconsin.

The Taliban swept to power following a hurried withdrawal of US troops over the past several months. Heartbreaking photos and videos have shown people desperately attempting to flee a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan by scaling a jet bridge and clinging onto the sides of a US Air Force plane.

On Monday, at least five people were killed as Afghans attempted to flee Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. A Twitter photo showed slippers strewn across the tarmac, left behind during the frenzy.