Vice President Kamala Harris has committed to providing tens of thousands of Afghan nationals, who were brought to the United States without comprehensive screenings, with green cards. This move, part of her broader immigration reform plan, has raised concerns following the resettlement of an accused ISIS terrorist in Oklahoma. The controversy stems from the massive Afghan resettlement operation that Harris and President Joe Biden initiated, which began in September 2021 and involved relocating nearly 100,000 Afghan nationals to American communities.
Among those resettled was 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, who was arrested in Oklahoma this month. Tawhedi allegedly planned an ISIS terrorist attack aimed at American citizens on Election Day. His case has brought renewed attention to the vetting failures of the resettlement process, adding fuel to critics who argue that the administration did not sufficiently ensure the safety of Americans during this mass relocation effort.
Despite these concerns, Harris remains steadfast in her push for immigration reform. She has vowed that if she becomes president, she will advocate for a Senate bill that would grant green cards to Afghan nationals resettled in 2021. The bipartisan bill, backed by Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and Chris Murphy (D-CT), includes provisions to provide permanent residency to these Afghans. Harris’s campaign website reinforces her commitment to this issue:
“As President, she will bring back the bipartisan border security bill and sign it into law. At the same time, she knows that our immigration system is broken and needs comprehensive reform that includes strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship.”
Harris’s plans, however, have drawn criticism due to widespread vetting failures that have been documented since the start of the resettlement operation. Multiple federal audits and reports from various government agencies have identified significant gaps in the screening process for Afghans brought to the U.S. after the fall of Kabul. In April 2023, a former Department of Defense (DOD) official testified before Congress that some Afghans who were resettled in the U.S. were later discovered to have been involved in placing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan with the intent to kill American troops.
The shortcomings of the vetting process have also been highlighted in a 2021 inquiry by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who requested information about the number of Afghans seeking entry to the U.S. who were flagged on the federal government’s “No Fly List” due to their connections to Islamic terrorism. However, the Biden administration has not disclosed the number of Afghans on that list.
In September 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) issued a bombshell report that detailed how many Afghan nationals were brought to the U.S. without being fully vetted, potentially posing a risk to national security. Similarly, a February 2022 DOD IG report revealed that Biden’s agencies had failed to properly vet a significant number of Afghans. That report flagged around 50 Afghans who had significant security concerns. Alarmingly, many of these individuals have since disappeared into American communities, and the government has struggled to locate them.
One of the more striking failures came to light in August 2022, when Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) presented allegations from a whistleblower. The whistleblower claimed that nearly 400 Afghans who were resettled in the U.S. were listed as “potential threats” in federal databases, but the administration had pressured officials to cut corners in the vetting process to expedite their entry. This claim, along with the fact that key government agencies refused to disclose details about how they are monitoring these individuals, has only heightened public skepticism about the safety of the resettlement process.
The issue of security concerns tied to Afghan nationals is not new. In May 2022, Project Veritas published a report that alleged the Biden administration had resettled Afghans listed on the federal government’s “Terrorism Watch List” in American communities. While the administration has neither confirmed nor denied the specifics of that report, it raised significant alarm among those concerned about national security.
In light of these vetting failures, the arrest of Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi in Oklahoma further underscores the risks associated with resettling large groups of individuals without thorough screening. The fact that a person with alleged ISIS ties was able to resettle in the U.S. through this program has intensified calls for greater transparency and scrutiny of the administration’s immigration policies.
Senator Grassley’s continued efforts to demand information from DHS and the FBI on how they are monitoring these Afghan resettlements have so far yielded no response. The lack of accountability and transparency regarding the resettlement process has raised doubts about the administration’s ability to protect American citizens from potential threats.
Despite these controversies, Harris’s immigration platform remains centered on providing a pathway to citizenship for many of the Afghan nationals who were resettled. While her commitment to immigration reform is clear, the unresolved issues surrounding the vetting process pose significant challenges to her campaign and her broader vision for reforming the U.S. immigration system.
2 Comments
This woman (Harris) is as sick as one can get for wanting illegals to get green cards without being vetted for illnesses and criminal records which are now impacting OUR welfare and security and she needs to be defeated in this coming election or this country will be turned into a battle ground between those here illegally and those who promote this fiasco by AMERICANS who will stand up to this criminality by the demon rat party labeled the democratic party. Are WE the PEOPLE going to allow this person to destroy this nation or are we going to capitulate to this dangerous criminal activity by our own elected representatives???????????????????????????????//
you are correct … you and all of us like minded people can help … vote . TRump / Vance 2024