You know what happens when we allow refugees into this country? They'll eat your cats and dogs! Take it from one Oregon politician who claims that Vietnamese refugees who came to the area years ago "harvested" people's pets for food "because their culture and lifestyle didn't mix with ours."
Oregon Senate Candidate Complains About Vietnamese Refugees Eatings Dogs
Faye Stewart, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Oregon made the comments while discussing the current Syrian refugee crisis during a GOP candidate forum. He was apparently telling a story about Vietnamese refugees first arriving to the Pacific Northwest in large numbers in the late 1970s and early '80s.
"[W]e took in some refugees," Stewart recalled. "I believe it was some Vietnamese refugees into this state years ago and it created a huge problem because their culture and their lifestyle didn't mix with ours."
Among other things, Stewart claimed that the Vietnamese refugees "went to their natural ways" and ate people's dogs and cats.
"[W]e took in some refugees, I believe it was some Vietnamese refugees into this state years ago and it created a huge problem because their culture and their lifestyle didn't mix with ours."
"And when I say that, you know our government housed them in buildings in the Portland area, my understanding and what ended up happening was is [sic] they didn't know how to heat their homes. What did they do? They started a fire in the middle of their living room in an apartment complex."
"Or when they needed something to eat, they went to their natural ways of doing it by harvesting people's dogs and cats, their pets."
"And so what we need to do is we need to make sure that when we do help people we do it appropriately. I question why can't we go over there and help them in their native land and protect them there. Why do we need to bring them here and potentially jeopardize the citizens lives here. If we do bring them here, then we need to make sure that we do it appropriately so that it doesn't negatively impact. We have people today that want to kill us because of who we are and we need to make sure that we don't jeopardize the citizens in the process."
You've got to be kidding me. Stewart, a county commissioner from Lane County -- and a candidate aiming for the United States Senate -- leans on old racist, xenophobic stereotypes about Southeast Asian refugees and drudgrd up tired urban legends about savage immigrants stealing pets for food to make a political point.
Stewart's comments were first reported by The Daily Caller, a conservative news and opinion site, and quickly made the rounds. As you can imagine, members of the Vietnamese community were not particularly happy about this remarks. Stewart ought to stop talking about communities he doesn't know a damn thing about.
More here: Oregon Senate Candidate Says Vietnamese Refugees Ate Dogs and Cats
UPDATE: Faye Stewart has apologized -- or uttered several words resembling an expression of regret -- for his remarks about Vietnamese refugees.
Stewart said he used those examples, which he said he had heard from a friend who lived in Portland at the time, to make a broader point that the United States needs to be careful about not creating a worse situation in trying to help people.
Stewart said he "made a mistake" and could have made his point "in a different fashion."
"It's just unfortunate that people are using dirty politics and cutting ... the question and context out and painting a very small sliver of what I said completely out of context."
He added: "I'm sick over this, to be completely honest with you because that's not who I am. ... I'm a leader of inclusiveness and helping people. ... I'm just sick that somebody -- I don't even know who did it -- determined that we need to create this piece and drive a political process based on hate. I think it's incredibly unfortunate."
More here: Lane County commissioner Faye Stewart apologizes for remarks condemned by Vietnamese-Americans