Four Months After Withdrawal, Biden Admin Doesn't Know Identities of Afghan Refugees Resettled in US

GOP lawmakers want full accounting of failed vetting efforts

More than four months after the Biden administration airlifted 
nearly 75,000 Afghans out of the war-torn country, it still does not 
know the identity or backgrounds of many who have since been 
resettled in the United States, according to three senators who 
received classified briefings on the situation.

"During a nonpublic briefing before the Senate Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs Committee, it was made clear that not all 
security and vetting measures have been taken to ensure the safety 
of our homeland," Sens. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.), Josh Hawley (R., 
Mo.), and Rick Scott (R., Fla.) disclosed in a letter sent Thursday 
to the Department of Homeland Security. The lawmakers are ordering 
the Biden administration to account for its failed vetting efforts 
and to "address the lack of transparency regarding this evacuation 
and resettlement operation." Congress, the lawmakers disclose, still 
does not have basic information about who the refugees are or if 
they were qualified to be brought into the country.

"It is beyond unacceptable that several months after President 
Biden's disastrous and deadly withdrawal we still do not have a full 
account of all the Americans who are still trapped in Afghanistan or 
a full account of the Afghans who were evacuated to the U.S.," the 
lawmakers write, according to a copy of the letter obtained 
exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon.

In the months since the Biden administration airlifted Afghans out 
of the country, it has obstructed congressional investigations into 
the bungled evacuation effort. Secretary of State Antony Blinken 
admitted to Congress in September that most refugees were not vetted 
prior to arriving stateside. Internal emails show that those helming 
the evacuation effort were ordered to fill flights to "excess" with 
unvetted Afghans. More than 12,000 Afghan refugees, and potentially 
more, arrived without a visa or basic identification, the Free 
Beacon first reported in October.

With the administration hoping to turn the page on its chaotic exit 
from Afghanistan, Johnson—ranking member of the Senate Permanent 
Subcommittee on Investigations—and his colleagues say that they will 
not back down from their oversight efforts.

"We are still concerned about your agencies' ability to fully vet 
these individuals if they do not have any identification documents 
and cannot prove who they claim to be," the letter to DHS states.

The lawmakers also expressed concern that the hasty evacuation of 
these Afghans was undertaken as hundreds of Americans were trapped 
in the country with no way to get back home. The Biden 
administration announced in October around 300 Americans were still 
stuck in the country but has not made any updates since.

Before the end of the year, the lawmakers demand the Biden 
administration disclose to lawmakers how many Afghan refugees cannot 
be identified and the steps being taken to ensure these individuals 
are not violent criminals or affiliated with terrorist 
organizations. They also want to know if the Biden administration 
created new identity documents for those who arrived without any 
paperwork.

The lawmakers also call on the administration to disclose if any of 
the Afghan refugees have been connected to terrorism or other 
crimes, as well as if they were interviewed in person by U.S. 
personnel prior to being resettled. Reports indicate that some of 
those airlifted to America were complicit in child trafficking and 
sex crimes.

In light of these reports, the senators want to know how many 
refugees have been arrested by U.S. law enforcement and are slated 
to be deported from the country. This includes details about whether 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained any of these Afghans 
over national security concerns.

DHS must also "provide the number of these Afghan nationals and 
other foreign nationals that have been resettled in each state so 
far," according to the senators' information request.


https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/four-months-after-
withdrawal-biden-admin-doesnt-know-identities-of-afghan-refugees-
resettled-in-us/