Despite a shortage of affordable housing options, Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking action to accommodate Afghan refugees.
The embattled governor, along with Senate president pro temp Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), is requesting $16.7 million in general funds to provide cash assistance and other services for newly arriving Afghans, according to a press release.
“Today’s announcements and request for funding signal that California stands ready to assist those in need,” Gov. Newsom said in a statement online. As the nation’s most diverse state, we don’t simply tolerate diversity, we celebrate it.”
But Recall Gavin 2020 organizer Mike Netter said the measure is only going to make a bad housing situation worse statewide.
“That money is not going to give Afghans housing or the ability to survive because there's nowhere to house them permanently and housing is unaffordable in California,” Netter said. “Newsom is just adding to the problem in California for political pandering purposes that is going to create more problems than it's going to solve for the refugees themselves.”
Newsom, a Democrat, faces a recall election against 46 Republican challengers on Sept. 14.
Since Aug. 17, some 24,000 Afghans have landed in the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal.
“They're not vetted,” Netter told the Southern California Record. “They are brought over by the government but we don't really know who they are as evidenced by the Taliban takeover. It would be stupid to think that of all the Afghan refugees being brought over, there weren't some terrorists in there. It doesn't take a huge amount of terrorists slipping through to form a cell that can do mass destruction. We put them in our backyard where people are struggling right now because they don't even want the homeless in their backyard.”
It was widely reported that about 161,548 Californians are unsheltered.
“$16.7 million might buy Afghan refugees food but the reality is that's not enough money to get them housing because we don't have affordable housing,” Netter said. “So, putting more people into California that already has 160,000 homeless and a lot more struggling to find somewhere to live because 30% of Californians are living on the edge of poverty, doesn’t help the state. The $16.7 million are token dollars that he should be spending on legal Californians.”
In its details for Afghan and Iraqi re-settlers, the U.S. State Department warns on its website against relocating to California, Washington, D.C., or Virginia.
“Please be aware that the cost of living and the availability of housing can vary significantly in different locations across the United States,” the website states. “The Washington, DC metro area including northern Virginia and some cities in California are very expensive places to live, and it can be difficult to find reasonable housing and employment. Any resettlement benefits you receive may not comfortably cover the cost of living in these areas.”
Airbnb.org is reportedly assisting the state in providing free, temporary housing, which Netter foresees as a recipe for disaster.
“They're banning Airbnb rentals in a lot of communities in California,” Netter added. “They don't even want teenagers partying at these Airbnb rentals so do you think they want Afghans who are possible terrorists in their neighborhoods? How many rich elitists are willing to rent out their homes to these Afghan refugees? Eventually, the Afghans will have nowhere to go because Airbnb units are rentals and those rentals have to be available. If they were available on a long-term basis, we wouldn't already have a really big housing problem.”