Key Points
- The Drill Down recently reported on tens of thousands of unvetted Afghan refugees airlifted out of Kabul.
- Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was asked to provide a report on the evacuees.
- He has yet to provide the information requested by two separate Senate committees.
The Drill Down recently reported on tens of thousands of Afghan refugees the Biden administration airlifted out of Kabul, unvetted, and ultimately dropped off on U.S. soil. Did any of these evacuees have ties to terrorist organizations? We don’t know. Any ex-cons? It’s anyone’s guess.
Last month, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee demanded answers. Committee members Ron Johnson (R-WI), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Rick Scott (R-FL) wrote a letter to the Department of Homeland Security to express their concerns.
“More than 120,000 individuals were airlifted out of Afghanistan. Of that number, the U.S. reportedly evacuated around 80,000 people and of those, 5,500 were Americans and over 73,000 were Afghans or other foreign nationals. Some of those Afghan nationals are currently housed in military installations in the U.S. We write today to request information about how your agencies are vetting/screening these individuals,” the Senators wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security and Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas had until last month to respond. Well guess what happened —they didn’t. And now they have Senator Jim Risch (R-ID), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asking questions; questions like “where’s the report?”
“The report requested by Congress on the composition and vetting of the more than 78,000 #Afghans evacuated by US forces is more than a month delayed,” Risch tweeted. “We need answers, but more than anything, we need @DHSgov to fully cooperate.”
Risch also co-wrote a letter with fellow lawmakers calling the delay “unacceptable.”
“Congress mandated this report include the immigration status of Afghan evacuees located here in the United States and at overseas bases of US Armed Forces, including any evacuees ’flagged as potential security risks or concerns,’” the lawmakers wrote.
“This information is necessary for Congress to perform its constitutional oversight duties, which include an understanding of the composition of the Afghan evacuee population located in the United States and any potential national security concerns,” it said.
Stop dragging your feet, Mayorkas. We need answers.
