Report Finds Biden Administration Failed to Properly Vet Thousands of Afghan Refugees

A bombshell report from the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General has found that the Biden administration failed to properly vet thousands of Afghan refugees who sought asylum in the U.S. after fleeing the Taliban takeover.

A review of 678 randomly selected asylum applications revealed that 40 percent of the files contained errors. The audit, published on Monday, indicated that the administration repeatedly missed aliases in its vetting process, which could have allowed individuals with potential terrorism links to enter the country.

According to the heavily redacted report, asylum officers failed to enter aliases in 25 percent of the reviewed files, totaling 303 missed aliases. The review also identified 23 files missing security checks, 45 unresolved records, and 115 other documentation issues. The report stated that "some errors resulted from an asylum officer not identifying a spelling variation of a name or not reprinting and adding a document to the [asylum] file."

"Most errors resulted from missed aliases or incomplete documentation, including two cases related to potential inadmissibility on terrorism-related grounds," the report revealed. The watchdog cited U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which oversaw the process, for "missed opportunities" to connect applicants to "derogatory information."

The Inspector General initiated the review following complaints about a 2023 class-action settlement designed to expedite asylum cases for 20,000 Afghan evacuees. The settlement aimed to decide 90 percent of these cases within 150 days. However, the report found no evidence that this agreement worsened the existing vetting problems.

The IG examined 678 of the 13,682 files for Afghans resettled under "Operation Allies Welcome," a program established in 2021 to aid Afghan evacuees following the U.S. military withdrawal. The program involved approximately 97,000 individuals.

Lawmakers have expressed alarm over the potential national security implications. Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) criticized the administration's vetting failures, referencing instances such as the 2024 arrest of Afghan refugee Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi in Oklahoma for plotting an Election Day terrorist attack, and the 2025 shooting of two National Guardsmen, one fatally, near the White House. The suspect in the latter incident was identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who had previously worked for the CIA.

In 2021, then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had defended Operation Allies Welcome, stating that the government had "established a robust screening and vetting architecture." However, a 2024 IG report had previously highlighted a "Fragmented Process for Identifying and Resolving Derogatory Information for Operation Allies Welcome Parolees."

The recent report acknowledged that officers "may be unable to entirely avoid missed aliases" due to tight deadlines and complex case information, citing one file with 124 aliases. Security checks for common names like "Mohammad" can generate over 1,000 potential matches. Additionally, USCIS flagged at least eight files where social media content was deemed "derogatory" or "of interest" but was not followed up on, which USCIS attributed to ambiguous guidelines.

The IG made five recommendations, all of which USCIS has agreed to implement. These include setting a benchmark error rate, improving alias identification and recording, ensuring security checks are completed before cases are closed, and documenting how officers handle social media findings.