US government ‘struggled to track’ Afghan evacuees who departed military bases after withdrawal: IG

EXCLUSIVE: The U.S. authorities “struggled to trace” Afghan evacuees who independently departed U.S. army bases designated as “protected havens” after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and didn’t try and find these people to confirm their compliance with parole situations, the Division of Homeland Safety inspector basic discovered.

DHS led the interagency effort to help and resettle Afghan evacuees, and established the Unified Coordination Group (USG) to coordinate efforts to supply Afghan evacuees with momentary housing, vaccinations, a tuberculosis screening and immigration processing.

The UCG oversaw operations at eight protected havens, managed by DHS officers, together with representatives from the Division of Protection, Division of State and Division of Well being and Human Companies.

DHS OIG FAULTS AFGHAN EVACUEE VETTING, WARNS NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS MAY HAVE ENTERED US

Beneath this program, all Afghan evacuees had U.S. citizenship, long-term immigration standing, or acquired parole and “might depart ports of entry or protected havens and will select to relocate with out help from a resettlement company.” 

DHS Inspector Basic Joseph Cuffari has been reviewing DHS’ efforts to trace Afghan evacuees who independently departed protected havens and the way unbiased departures affected evacuees’ immigration standing.

Cuffari discovered that the UCG “struggled to trace Afghan evacuees who independently departed U.S. army bases designated as ‘protected havens.’”

DHS Inspector Basic Joseph Cuffari has been reviewing DHS’ efforts to trace Afghan evacuees who independently departed protected havens and the way unbiased departures affected evacuees’ immigration standing. (Photograph by Lukas Schulze/Getty Photos)

“Particularly, UCG officers had difficulties documenting when unbiased departures occurred,” the inspector basic discovered, noting that the case monitoring system “was not designed to trace unbiased departures.”

“In some cases, officers observed that Afghan evacuees recorded as current at protected havens had already left,” the inspector basic discovered.

Some Afghan evacuees additionally departed the protected havens “with out finishing medical necessities.”

The inspector basic additionally discovered that the UCG’s unbiased departure job power “didn’t try and find all Afghan evacuees who independently departed protected havens to confirm their compliance with parole situations.”

FBI ‘ACTIVELY’ INVESTIGATING AFGHAN EVACUEES IN US FLAGGED AS SUSPECTED TERRORISTS, SECURITY THREATS: WRAY

“These evacuees might face challenges acquiring long-term immigration standing resulting from their failure to adjust to parole situations or to submit immigration purposes,” the inspector basic discovered.

DHS, in its response to the inspector basic, mentioned the company concurs with the suggestions, and stay “dedicated to working with immigration, resettlement, intelligence, legislation enforcement and counterterrorism professionals throughout a number of Federal departments and companies, as acceptable, to finish this mission.”

DHS mentioned that utilizing classes discovered, officers are working with the interagency to “make clear and institutionalize UCG insurance policies, processes, and capabilities and can work to implement these enhancements as acceptable by the top of FY 2023.”

Evacuees from Afghanistan are seen at their momentary shelter contained in the US Military Rhine Ordonanz Barracks in Kaiserslautern, Germany, August 30, 2021. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

“The UCG developed processes to report when unbiased departures occurred, find Afghan evacuees after their unbiased departures, and confirm their parole compliance,” the report continues. “Nevertheless, the UCG officers at protected havens had difficulties monitoring when Afghan evacuees independently departed protected havens, and the Activity Drive didn’t try and find all Afghan evacuees who independently departed protected havens to confirm their parole compliance.” 

In the meantime, the inspector basic, final month, discovered that DHS did not correctly vet and display screen Afghan evacuees coming into the U.S. and will have allowed a number of nationwide safety and public security threats into the U.S.

That report discovered that Customs and Border Safety “didn’t at all times have crucial knowledge to correctly display screen, vet, or examine the evacuees.”

AFGHAN EVACUEE CHARGED WITH CHILD SEX CRIME IN NEW MEXICO: OFFICIALS

“We decided some info used to vet evacuees by way of U.S. Authorities databases, akin to identify, date of delivery, identification quantity, and journey doc knowledge, was inaccurate, incomplete, or lacking. We additionally decided CBP admitted or paroled evacuees who weren’t totally vetted into the USA,” the report says.

“In consequence, DHS could have admitted or paroled people into the USA who pose a threat to nationwide safety and the security of native communities,” the report continued.

Tens of hundreds of Afghans have been evacuated to the U.S. within the wake of the withdrawal and subsequent Taliban takeover of the nation in August final 12 months. Greater than 76,000 Afghans have to this point been evacuated and processed into the U.S.

Afghan refugee ladies register to be seen by a physician contained in the medical tent at Liberty Village on Joint Base McGuire-Dix- Lakehurst, N.J., on Dec, 2, 2021. 
(Barbara Davidson/Pool through AP)

That report outlines a course of by which the Pentagon evacuated overseas nationals to “lily pads” — international locations akin to Germany, Qatar, Spain and Italy, the place the Afghans might be quickly housed earlier than being transferred to the U.S.

Beneath Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), DHS used humanitarian parole — supposed for use on a case-by-case foundation for causes of great public profit or pressing humanitarian causes — to rapidly course of tens of hundreds of Afghans into the U.S. By doing so, the administration averted the particular immigrant visa (SIV) course of and U.S. refugee admissions course of, each of which might take years to finish.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Biden administration has repeatedly touted a multilayered course of to display screen, examine and vet evacuees utilizing biometric and biographical knowledge in opposition to a number of databases, together with Pentagon, DHS and FBI repositories. Nevertheless, the audit faulted the method and mentioned that “crucial knowledge” was not at all times obtainable. The report additionally discovered that CBP admitted or paroled evacuees “who weren’t totally vetted” into the U.S.

It attributes the failing to evacuees who didn’t have ample documentation, an absence of standardized insurance policies and a failure to supply a contingency plan for such conditions. Officers additionally attributed points to time constraints on the “lily pads,” which have been restricted to only days or even weeks. Officers additionally mentioned they needed to manually enter knowledge from pictures of handwritten flight manifests.