Grassley Statement on Watchdog Warnings about Deficient Vetting of Afghan Evacuees
Some improperly vetted evacuees can’t be located within continental United States
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement regarding the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (OIG) report released today titled, “Evaluation of the Screening of Displaced Persons from Afghanistan.”
“Following the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, I expressed concern about the administration’s lackluster efforts to screen evacuees flooding from the terrorist safe haven. According to a new report by the Pentagon watchdog, the situation is far worse than we thought. The Department of Defense (DoD) inspector general’s office found that thousands of Afghans were not properly screened using all available DoD data before arriving in the continental United States. The National Counterterrorism Center did not use all the data it should have, leaving dangerous gaps in the screening process. And worse, the administration cannot locate some evacuees with problematic records who were released into the United States before their background checks were completed.
“These processing problems pose serious national security and public safety concerns. The relevant agencies ought to rapidly implement the OIG’s recommendations. Congress should not even begin to consider proposals related to sweeping immigration status changes for evacuees, such as an Afghan Adjustment Act, until the Biden administration, at the very least, guarantees the integrity of and fully responds to long-standing congressional oversight requests regarding the vetting and evacuee resettlement process. Anything less would be irresponsible.”
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