The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) admitted to lacking “critical data to properly screen, vet and inspect” Afghan evacuees after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, according to a report issued by the department’s watchdog and obtained by CBS News.
The 34-page report by the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) concluded that the department granted parole, or temporary legal permission to enter and stay in the U.S. to Afghan evacuees who “were not fully vetted” following the massive airlift by the U.S. during the chaotic last days of the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not always have critical data to properly screen, vet, or inspect the evacuees,” the report by DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari said. “We determined some information used to vet evacuees through U.S. Government databases, such as name, date of birth, identification number, and travel document data, was inaccurate, incomplete, or missing.”
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) was quick to call out the Department of Homeland Security for putting America in such grave danger during the Afghanistan withdrawal.
“Devastating report from the DHS Inspector General proving the White House lied repeatedly about bringing thousands of refugees from Afghanistan to America that weren’t fully vetted and never should have been allowed in the country,” the Congressman posted on Twitter.
Because of unreliable or insufficient data and the lack of standardized vetting policies, the watchdog found in its probe, “DHS may have admitted or paroled individuals into the United States who pose a risk to national security and the safety of local communities.”
According to the report, DHS admitted an Afghan evacuee who had previously been released from prison by the Taliban. The evacuee was deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after officials learned of the information roughly three weeks after the individual’s arrival in the U.S., the report said.
A second Afghan evacuee, the report said, was placed in deportation proceedings three months following his arrival, after the FBI found the individual posed “national security concerns.”
In its response to the draft OIG report, senior DHS leadership rejected the central premise of the report and its recommendations, noting that the U.S. government vetted and inspected all Afghan arrivals at “lily pads,” or overseas military bases, as well as at U.S. airports.
“Upon evacuation from Afghanistan and before being cleared to travel to the United States, Afghan nationals were brought to international transit points where the U.S. government collected and reviewed biometric (i.e., facial images and fingerprints) and biographic information (e.g., name, date of birth, identity document information, etc.) on all Afghans between the ages of 14 and 79,” the department wrote in its response.
