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

[Happy New Year]

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/

[Y A]

Happy new year !