Issa statement on negligent refugee vetting, DHS Inspector General Report

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-50) released the following statement regarding the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report detailing the negligent process of releasing Afghan refugees into the United States after the Biden Administration abandoned in-country operations in 2021:

“A year ago, I was denied access by this administration to meet with Afghan refugees processing through Qatar and was appalled by what U.S. officials there revealed to me: most refugees there had few, if any, documents verifying their identity, background, and situation – yet were being rushed through to the United States.

“The recent Inspector General report confirmed that the administration abandoned American citizens in Afghanistan who had blue U.S. passports in hand, while irresponsibly transporting tens of thousands of unvetted refugees into the U.S. While my staff and I were working tirelessly to help evacuate constituents from Kabul, this administration instead prioritized overloading its evacuation flights with unknown people from one of the world’s most dangerous and unstable places.

“This constitutes a willful refusal by the Biden administration to protect the homeland, and Congress cannot ignore this report. DHS officials must immediately testify before Congress, in detail, regarding how this was allowed to happen, and the national security and public safety implications.”

According to the Inspector General’s report, 659 migrant records were missing either a first or last name; 11,110 records had dates of birth listed as “January 1”; 36,000 were processed with “facilitation documents” that Customs and Border Protection could not define; 7,800 had invalid or missing data; and 1,299 refugees were released into the U.S. without collected fingerprints.