Grassley, Portman, Inhofe Demand Update from FBI on Afghan Evacuees Flagged for Security Concerns, Denounce DHS’ Continued Failure to Use All Vetting Tools
A Pentagon report previously found dozens of Afghans who posed security risks entered the U.S., many now cannot be located
WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa), ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Rob Portman (R-Ohio),
ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Reform
and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Committee on Armed Services, requested an update
from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray on the
screening and vetting of Afghan evacuees. Specifically, they draw attention to
evacuees who resettled in the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome now that the
FBI has been given data regarding Afghans with national security concerns.
As President Biden’s botched and chaotic
Afghanistan withdrawal unfolded, the administration circumvented the normal
refugee resettlement process. The senators raise concerns based on a report
from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Defense
(DOD), which found that, as a result of the administration’s rushed and
haphazard process, evacuees had not been vetted using all of the tools and data
available to the DOD.
“We are aware of at least 50 Afghan
evacuees paroled by DHS into the United States that were later identified by
DOD as having potentially significant security concerns that would not qualify
for parole or admission onto U.S. military bases used as temporary housing for
evacuees. The OIG explains that ‘significant security concerns’ include
individuals whose latent fingerprints have been found on improvised explosive
devices and known or suspected terrorists. In addition, at least 28 of these
evacuees could not be located once they were flagged by DOD,” the senators wrote, citing directly
from the DOD OIG’s February report.
Despite the DOD OIG’s findings earlier
this year, Grassley, Portman and Inhofe express concern that the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) still is not utilizing the DOD’s tactical database to
screen Afghans for potential security concerns.
“DHS’s failure to use every database to
screen for derogatory information has caused a serious breach of homeland
security. Accordingly, we request that you provide us with information about
those evacuees flagged by DOD and steps the FBI has taken to adjudicate their
derogatory information, including locating individuals currently within the
United States. In addition, we would like to know how the FBI is addressing the
counterterrorism threat posed by Afghan parolees that have not been screened by
DHS against the tactical database,” the senators concluded.
Last December, the senators successfully pushed
the Biden administration to provide a report on their vetting process for
Afghan evacuees. After the report was published, Grassley called on the administration to immediately answer congressional oversight
requests, given that the vetting problems pose serious national security and
public safety concerns.
The full letter is available HERE.
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