On Monday, America First Legal (AFL) released new documents regarding the Biden-Harris Administration’s disastrous retreat from Afghanistan. These documents, obtained through litigation against the Department of Justice (DOJ) after it stonewalled AFL’s investigation into the Biden-Harris Administration’s decision-making, reflect chaos and incompetence.
For example, in early August 2021, the Department of State asked federal government agencies to confirm that a spreadsheet listing Afghans who did not meet minimum time-in-service for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) should be referred to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for resettlement into the United States because they had supposedly otherwise worked on behalf of the United States or a U.S. government-funded program.
A Department of Justice Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul appeared to not recognize any of the names on that list.
Even the Afghans referred and then nominated by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul for admission to the USRAP, however, would face significant challenges to make it into the United States, such as finding their own way to a third country and supporting themselves while their “application for acceptance into the program for resettlement to the U.S. is being reviewed, security checks are performed, medical exams done, etc.”
As early as August 15, 2021, despite the previous guidance that USRAP applicants would need to find their own way to a third country, hundreds were leaving Afghanistan on U.S. Air Force cargo planes.
By August 16, 2021, the DOJ National Security Division (NSD) still considered “vetting” to be an “interagency issue.”
While DOJ has not disclosed what the vetting issues were, AFL also obtained a Department of State cable instructing posts to process “civil society leaders” as “Priority 1” refugee applicants.
Civil society leaders include leaders of non-governmental organizations, community groups, labor unions, indigenous peoples movements, faith-based organizations, professional associations, foundations, think tanks, charitable organizations, and other not-for-profit organizations. Even outside of their country of origin, civil society leaders are likely to continue advocating for their respective causes and often remain deeply connected to high-ranking officials in foreign governments around the world.
By August 31, 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration was still figuring out its official talking points in response to questions about the “Screening & Vetting” that was taking place to ensure that dangerous individuals would not slip through.
Later that day, NBC News contacted the DOJ for answers regarding “possible terror connections,” but the DOJ still didn’t have answers.
According to the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General, even for the Afghans who were supposed to wait in a third country while their acceptance into a refugee U.S. resettlement program was being reviewed, many were just flown into the United States without being fully vetted. Some of these “refugees” have reportedly been charged with heinous crimes such as rape.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s stonewalling and lack of transparency into its disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan has even led to a threat of contempt for its refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena.
As of July 2024, the Department of State Inspector General “could not confirm the number of individuals evacuated from Afghanistan, regardless of destination, with support of the U.S. government in 2021.”
Incredibly, the Biden-Harris Administration gave the Taliban operational control over access to the Kabul airport. It provided Taliban officials with lists of U.S. Citizens and Afghan human assets and the names of the Americans and Afghan allies it intended to evacuate even as it relied on the Taliban for security outside the airport. Politico quoted one U.S. official as saying: “Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list. It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.” Thirteen American service members were killed, and eighteen wounded as a result of the Biden-Harris Administration’s disregard and incompetence.
The Biden-Harris Administration claims to have evacuated more than 123,000 people from Afghanistan. Only 6,000 are American citizens. Through its litigation, AFL will continue fighting to expose the Biden-Harris Administration’s duplicity and disregard for our national security.
Read the documents here.
