Report: Biden-era Afghan refugee program had 40% error rate
The Biden administration’s Afghan refugee program was so flawed that it potentially allowed an untold number of terrorists and dangerous criminals into the country, according to a newly released Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report.
The OIG launched an investigation after it received complaints from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employees that a federal lawsuit settlement in Ahmed vs DHS created national security issues due to not having enough time to thoroughly vet claims.
The OIG investigation is the latest to raise national security concerns stemming from the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
At the time, the administration evacuated 97,000 Afghan nationals through Operation Allies Refuge and resettled them into the U.S. through Operation Allies Welcome, enabling them to apply for asylum. The OAW program was established through the Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022, which required USCIS to interview each OAW asylum applicant within 45 days of filing an asylum claim with no exceptions.
This wasn’t possible and in April 2023, the National Immigrant Justice Center and Kirkland & Ellis LLP filed a class action against USCIS “for failing to timely adjudicate the asylum applications.” In September 2023, a settlement was reached that “forced USCIS to adjudicate 90% of the program’s asylum applications within 150 days,” the Trump administration DHS said.
USCIS employees filed complaints about the process, warning the rushed timeline prevented them from comprehensively reviewing each application, match or flag records or screen for terrorism. The OIG then launched an investigation evaluating the process from March 2024 through January 2025.
Its new report says it identified a 40% error rate in the adjudication of OAW asylum files it reviewed. The “prevalence and type of error” suggests that USCIS “may have missed opportunities to potentially link names provided by applicants to derivative information, which in turn would compromise the integrity of alien registration file contents that future users rely on for immigration administration and enforcement activities,” it said. This included USCIS not being able to identify or link alias names provided by applicants that could have made them ineligible for asylum and flagged to be deported.
The OIG analyzed a statistical sample of 768 applications from 13,682 adjudicated applications from the OAW population. Of the data they were able to review, they identified 303 missed aliases, 23 missing security checks, 45 unresolved records, and 115 other document issues. The OIG also highlighted cases related to “potential inadmissibility on terrorism related grounds.”
In response, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, “Our asylum system should be as strict as possible. If even one dangerous criminal or terrorist slips through and enters our country, it endangers countless American lives. The Biden Administration dangerously mismanaged the Operation Allies Welcome program, disregarding all the thorough and well-established procedures of our asylum system and putting our nation at risk. Unlike the Biden Administration, the Trump Administration is putting the American people first and bringing an end to these reckless and rushed asylum practices.”
As Afghans were being released into the country, several Republican U.S. senators demanded answers on the vetting process, arguing they weren’t being properly vetted, The Center Square reported. Multiple concerns were also raised after thousands were sent to U.S. military bases, including 10,000 to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. An OIG investigation next found that Afghans caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to and consumables at U.S. military bases.
At least 44,000 Afghans weren’t housed in military bases whose whereabouts were unknown within months of entering the U.S., prompting U.S. senators to demand additional answers from DHS.
Despite this, 49 Republicans in Congress (34 in the House and 15 in the Senate) voted for a $6 billion relief package to expand the Afghan refugee resettlement program, The Center Square reported. The majority of Republicans voted against it: 35 in the Senate and 175 in the House. The program included a special visa used by Afghan nationals who were released into the U.S. who were later arrested for a range of crimes.
Since Afghans were released into the country through OAW, they’ve been arrested, prosecuted and convicted of a range of crimes, including for terrorism. The first Afghan was deported this month through the U.S. Alien Terrorist Removal Court after a failed attempt to commit a major terrorist attack on Election Day in 2024, The Center Square reported. Her son-in-law pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and is awaiting sentencing.
Last November, an Afghan released through OAW was charged with threatening to build a bomb and commit a suicide attack and kill Americans and “infidels.” Last December, an Afghan released through OAW was arrested on accusations from DHS that he supportedthe Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan (ISIS-K).
Convictions of Afghans released through OAW include lewd or lascivious acts with a minor, sexual battery, hit and run, drug possession, kidnapping, among others.
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