Biden's Afghan Migrant Program Saw 40% Vetting Failure Rate, Inspector General Finds

A Department of Homeland Security inspector general report revealed that 40% of asylum applications reviewed for Afghan nationals admitted under the Biden administration's Operation Allies Welcome program contained at least one documentation or vetting error. The findings suggest that these deficiencies increased the risk of admitting individuals who may have been ineligible.

The report, dated September 23, examined a sample of 678 asylum applications from Afghan nationals who arrived through Operation Allies Welcome, the initiative established following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Inspectors identified 303 instances of missing aliases, 23 omitted security checks, and over 150 other documentation issues. Crucially, two cases involved applicants who potentially should have been deemed inadmissible on terrorism-related grounds.

These findings emerge as Operation Allies Welcome faces increased scrutiny, marked by several high-profile arrests of Afghan nationals admitted through the program. Previous reports detailed the arrests of an alleged ISIS-K supporter, an Afghan national charged with making terroristic threats, and another individual admitted under the program who was later convicted of indecent exposure to a minor.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the report indicates that the Biden administration "dangerously mismanaged" the program. DHS asserted that a lawsuit settlement mandating U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adjudicate 90% of asylum applications within 150 days pressured the agency to prioritize speed over thorough vetting.

The inspector general's report emphasized the importance of accurate record-keeping, noting that hundreds of aliases for applicants had not been documented, with one individual having 124 known aliases. The report also stated that nearly 60% of the missing security checks identified were due to missed FBI name checks.

In two specific cases flagged for potential terrorism-related concerns, required documentation of the government's review was either missing entirely or the final approval steps were not completed, leaving no clear record of adjudication.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, stated that the inspector general's findings align with concerns raised since the 2021 Kabul evacuation. "The fact that 40% of these applications have errors is alarming," Krikorian told Fox News Digital. "This IG report just underlines how superficial and even frivolous the vetting that we were assured was going on was."

Krikorian suggested that the report might understate the problem, as inspectors could only identify deficiencies present in the reviewed files and could not confirm the thoroughness of every vetting process. He noted that many evacuees were processed at temporary hubs in third countries before arriving in the U.S., and once they boarded evacuation flights, the U.S. was effectively committed to resettling them.

The inspector general proposed five recommendations to enhance USCIS' review processes for Operation Allies Welcome asylum applications, including improving the documentation of aliases, ensuring security checks are properly recorded, and strengthening oversight of adjudication files. USCIS has reportedly agreed to implement all five recommendations.