Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times,
A deputy inspector general revealed in a Jan. 14 Senate hearing that tens of thousands of Afghan refugees could not provide key identification when entering the United States through a Biden-era parole program.
Additionally, lawmakers revealed that more than 50 individuals in the United States with confirmed or suspected terrorist ties were allowed into the country under the same program. The joint hearing was held with the Senate Border Security and Immigration and Crime and Counterterrorism subcommittees, which spiraled into arguments between Republican and Democratic lawmakers over whether vetting or counterterrorism is to blame.
Under Operation Allies Welcome, a 2021 initiative under President Joe Biden to resettle Afghans in the wake of what was widely called a botched U.S. military withdrawal from the Middle Eastern country, roughly 76,000 evacuees were let into the United States. The operation was meant to help Afghan allies who helped American forces and faced a serious threat from the Taliban because of that employment.
“There was missing information from the [Operation Allies Welcome] population, including first, last names, and date of birth,” Deputy Inspector General Craig Adelman for the office of audits in Homeland Security said.
“There was about 11,000 to 12,000 that did not know their date of birth.”
Although Afghan refugees were asked to provide identification, Adelman testified that about 36,000 could not provide any form of it.
When asked if the Department of Homeland Security systematically interviewed or conducted mental health screenings of evacuees before they were allowed into the United States, Adelman simply replied “no” and “not that I’m aware of.”
The hearing was called “Biden’s Afghan Parolee Program – A Trojan Horse with Flawed Vetting and Deadly Consequences.”
Democrats said this title was misleading and demonized thousands of Afghan individuals.
Republicans said the hearing was appropriately named, and above all else, the safety of Americans should be prioritized over refugee programs. This wasn’t taken into consideration during Operation Allies Welcome, the GOP senators said.
“We have no idea of their potential terrorist connections, and in many cases, we now have no idea where they are or what they’re doing, who they’re connected with, or what they’re capable of,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said.
One report shows the total number of refugees reached a much higher amount at more than 200,000 Afghan nationals through the Biden administration’s policies, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
“Contrary to popular narratives, most Afghans admitted during and after the evacuation had nothing to do with the U.S. government or any of its contractors,” senior researcher Nayla Rush said in her report. “They were not U.S. ‘allies,’ nor were they ‘persecuted’ individuals in need of refugee resettlement.”
Another senior researcher with the Center for Immigration Studies, Simon Hankinson, testified Wednesday that he has no doubt there are hundreds of Afghan nationals who should be deported.
In December 2025, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said at least 2,000 Afghan refugees in the United States have terrorism ties.
One of the Afghan men who entered the United States through Operation Allies Welcome is the suspect accused of the November 2025 shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, killing one and seriously injuring the other. The FBI called the attack an act of terrorism.
“How did this murderer come to be let in the United States in the first place?” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said. “How do we know that there are no other such Afghan nationals in the United States who might carry out another similar attack?”
Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday argued the Afghan refugees were in fact vetted multiple times, and the shooting of the National Guard members was due to a failure of counterterrorism, not because of a failure of vetting.
Sen. Alejandor Padilla (D-Calif.) pleaded in the hearing that “we not condemn the many for the inexcusable act of one person.”
Multiple witnesses at the hearing, including another deputy inspector general with the Defense Department and one with the State Department, testified that vetting did occur, but their offices found flaws and inadequate practices.
Republican lawmakers said Americans’ safety should still take precedent over letting thousands of Afghan refugees into the United States with insufficient vetting.
Cornyn put this question to the witnesses at the hearing, asking three of them if they disagree that an absolute non-negotiable requirement of any visa or parole program should be the safety and security of the American people. None of the witnesses spoke up.
