A Department of Homeland Security inspector general report found one or more documentation or vetting errors in 40% of a sample of asylum applications filed by Afghan nationals admitted under Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden administration program launched after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Sept. 23 report examined 678 asylum applications and identified 303 missing aliases, 23 missing security checks and more than 150 other documentation deficiencies. Two cases involved applicants who may have been inadmissible on terrorism-related grounds, inspectors found.
One applicant had 124 known aliases that had not all been properly recorded, the report noted, underscoring why accurate record-keeping matters for screening. Inspectors also found that missed FBI name checks accounted for nearly 60% of the absent security checks identified.
In the two flagged cases involving potential terrorism-related concerns, one application was missing the paperwork documenting the government’s review entirely, while in the other, supervisors began the approval process but never completed the final step, leaving no clear record the review had been finished.
In a press release, DHS said the findings show the Biden administration
