America's role in resettling Afghans becomes next political battle in the fallout over US withdrawal

As the Biden administration scrambles to coordinate the evacuations of Americans and vulnerable Afghans from Afghanistan, the next political battle is already shaping up over how expansive the US role should be in helping to resettle tens of thousands of Afghans amid new ripples of anti-immigrant sentiment from the far right.

Biden's compassion and empathy for those in need has been a hallmark of his career -- and it was one of his central appeals in the 2020 campaign. But he now finds himself constrained by the looming pressures of election year politics and the corrosive, nativist rhetoric of a former President who may well challenge him in 2024 and is already looking for any opportunity to claim that his successor did not put America first -- as he did at an Alabama rally Saturday night. Long before the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, refugee intake in the US had become a volatile political issue for the Biden administration, one complicated by the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border and the opposing pressures from conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats who demanded that Biden follow through on his campaign promise to increase the US cap on refugees.