The american government brought unvetted Afghans directly to the US

Last edited on November 21, 2024

Lora made a claim in her Telegraph article stating that the US Government had brought unvetted Afghans directly into the US. She provides no source for this. We have dug into the claim and provided numerous sources below from both sides.

At the time of writing. Most of the evidence points to this being true. Especially a specific 2022 OIG report into DHS which claims the agency was not achieving accurate vetting especially when contrasted with the requirements of vetting someone from a failed state effectively.

However. DHS responded to said report with the following statement.

DHS said in a statement Wednesday on the inspector general's report that it "does not concur with the two recommendations made in the DHS Office of Inspector General's (OIG) report regarding Operation Allies Welcome (OAW)." The department also strongly disputed the watchdog's conclusions about the Afghan evacuee vetting.

"Despite the fact that, on multiple occasions, DHS provided the OIG with a comprehensive understanding of the OAW vetting and screening process, the OIG's report does not accurately characterize that rigorous and multi-layered screening and vetting process, including the critical roles of multiple other federal agencies," the DHS statement continued. "Further, the report does not accurately account for the fact that all individuals paroled into the United States as part of OAW are already subject to continuous vetting."

DHS stated that Afghan and other foreign nationals alike who enter the U.S. must undergo recurrent vetting, "to ensure the continued protection of public safety and national security."

And if derogatory information surfaces after the evacuees entered the U.S., federal law enforcement would "take appropriate action, such as opening a criminal investigation, commencing a prosecution, revoking parole, and/or placing the individual in removal proceedings." 

The department also said it would continue working with federal partners "to continue to support the resettlement of qualifying Afghan nationals in the United States."

As such we have a problem. The inspector general who audited the department says it isn't up to scratch. The department disagrees and says they're robustly doing their job.

As such we recommend checking out the evidence and coming to your own conclusions.

What evidence supports this claim?

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Source Source type Evidence Type
https://nypost.com/2021/11/25/most-afghan-evacuees-not-vetted-before-entering-us-gop-senate-memo-says/

The NY Post claims that MOST Afghan Evacuees weren't vetted. Based entirely on a GOP memo. T...

Website
News Article
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2874559/tens-of-thousands-entered-us-unvetted-after-kabul-airlift-officials-say-in-memo/

Almost none of the 82,000 people airlifted from Kabul in August were vetted before being admitted to...

Website
News Article
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/comment/2024/11/20/donald-trumps-mass-deportation-plans-will-save-america-bill/

This was the main article that alerted us to this claim. Specfically Consider, for example, that,...

Website
News Article
https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2022-09/OIG-22-64-Sep22-Redacted.pdf

This is an office of the inspector general for homeland security confirming an audit into Homeland S...

Website
Public Records

What evidence is against this claim?

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Source Source type Evidence Type
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/01/politics/afghan-vetting-fact-check/index.html

Facts First: It’s misleading to suggest that Afghan refugees who are coming to the US following...

Website
News Article
Press Briefing by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan

We have established a network of transit centers in multiple countries in the Gulf and Europe, where...

Other
Testimonial
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/25/politics/arriving-afghans-paperwork-delays-security/index.html

Every person who is put on an evacuation flight to the US is being screened both in overseas sta...

Website
News Article
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghan-evacuees-dhs-watchdog-finds-department-lacked-critical-data-vetting/

CBS News covers the 2022 Inspector General report into the Department of Homeland Securities objecti...

Website
News Article

Mainly Involving

  • Lora Ries

    Title
    United States
    Role
    Director, Border Security and Immigration Center, and Senior Research Fellow @ The Heritage Foundation
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