It’s been a week since the end of the American airlift that brought tens of thousands of Afghans out of Kabul and there are still more questions than answers over who exactly was evacuated, which of them have already reached the U.S., how they were chosen and where they’ll end up.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the man in charge of the resettlement operations, promised Americans that he’s putting their safety foremost, but had divulged little else so far.
He did confirm that some people on security watchlists were among the Afghans evacuated, and said they are being held while officials try to work with other countries to figure out who can take them.
Mr. Mayorkas declined to speculate on how many total Afghans the country should expect to resettle, other than to say it would be more than 50,000.
He said the numbers are still too “fluid” at this point, and the Biden administration still expects to help more Afghans leave their country, so any count now is premature.
He projected confidence in the mission, though.
“We can do this, and we can protect the American public, and we can pronounce through our actions the generosity and nobility of the American public,” he said.
Republicans are growing restless with the lack of solid information.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs and fellow caucus members said in a letter to Mr. Mayorkas that it’s time the government divulge whether it collected fingerprints from every person brought to the U.S. under Mr. Mayorkas’s parole powers.
He also asked for a full explanation of how the government vetted people as they were rushing to board airplanes to flee Afghanistan.
And Mr. Biggs demanded to know how Mr. Mayorkas’s department is monitoring the 20,000 Afghans already on U.S. soil, and what will happen to those brought here but later judged to be security risks.
“We have all watched the chaotic evacuation scenes play out in Afghanistan. It has raised serious questions on who is being brought into our country,” the congressman told The Washington Times. “We need to ensure that these individuals are being properly vetted and do not pose a risk to our communities. American safety must be prioritized.”
He cited reporting by The Washington Times on a 47-year-old Afghan citizen who made it to the U.S. on an evacuation flight despite having a prior rape conviction and deportation on his record. And he cited multiple news reports that authorities have matched as many as 100 evacuated Afghans to government watch lists.
Rep. Tom Tiffany, Wisconsin Republican, has been keeping close tabs on Fort McCoy, one of eight military bases in the U.S. that is holding Afghans.
He wrote to resettlement organizations in his state, who are expected to help the Afghans once they are released from the Wisconsin fort, saying they will bear the burden of monitoring the arrivals and reporting any suspicious activity to Homeland Security.
“You must exercise due diligence by observing, asking questions, and sharing any significant information with the appropriate authorities,” he wrote. “Americans are counting on you.”
Members of Congress also reacted with outrage to reports that among the airlift evacuees were “child brides” and families with multiple wives.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, called that “an acute human rights crisis.”
“Every Biden-Harris official linked to this disgrace should and must be held accountable,” he said.
Mr. Mayorkas, in a briefing Friday, said his department, which has been picked to lead a vast government operation to bring people to the country, is overseeing multiple layers of security checks, including at military bases overseas, while people are on flights here, and again when they arrive at airports.
The secretary confirmed that officials have in fact flagged worrying figures who were airlifted out of Afghanistan. He said they were not permitted to enter the U.S.
“We are working with our international allies to address the disposition of those individuals,” he said.
The deported rapist about whom The Times reported last week was flagged by Customs and Border Protection officers at Dulles International Airport and is currently in a detention facility run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
More than 120,000 people were brought out of Afghanistan and 40,000 of them have already reached the U.S.
Some were U.S. citizens, some were legal permanent residents of other nationalities, and some are Afghans who assisted the American military’s efforts and either earned a special visa or are on path to do so.
But Mr. Mayorkas said the country is also bringing in others, including “vulnerable Afghan women and girls, journalists and other constituencies that need our relief.”
He was unable to say how many are special visa holders and how many have been brought in using his humanitarian parole powers, though in a fact sheet issued later his department said “most” will be brought through parole.
Pentagon officials have confirmed that a majority of people with claims to the special visa were not evacuated, breaking an American promise.
Ten GOP senators late last week fired off a letter to President Biden demanding to know what would be done for them.
Their parole is good for two years, and gives them a chance to see a more permanent legal status such as claiming asylum.
Parolees will be issued work permits, but will be subject to conditions such as going through medical screenings and vaccinations, and regular check-ins.
All new arrivals, including U.S. citizens, are being tested for COVID. The government is picking up the bill.
U.S. citizens and legal residents can head home once they clear testing. Parolees are encouraged to go to one of eight military bases where government employees are working to process them and provide them with adjustment assistance.
But Mr. Mayorkas indicated that was voluntary, and one congressman has told The Times that some Afghans have walked off a base in Wisconsin.