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‘American Lives Are At Risk’: Sen. Cotton Blasts Report On Biden Afghan Evacuee Screening Failures

   DailyWire.com
Evacuees who fled Afghanistan walk through the terminal to board buses that will take them to a processing center, at Dulles International Airport on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021.
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton blasted President Joe Biden following the release of a report last week that revealed the administration’s failure to properly screen many Afghan evacuees during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

“Joe Biden promised to vet the evacuees that came to America after his retreat from Afghanistan. But he didn’t, and now American lives are at risk. According to this report, dozens of suspected bombmakers and terrorists arrived in our country—and now some have gone missing. This debacle is yet another reminder of the dangerous consequences of Joe Biden’s dishonorable withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Cotton said in a statement.

The report by the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Inspector General (IG) revealed “significant security concerns” regarding dozens of Afghans brought to the U.S.

“As of November 2, 2021, NGIC personnel had identified 50 Afghan personnel in the United States with information in DOD records that would indicate potentially significant security concerns,” the IG noted.

“DOD personnel could not locate some Afghan evacuees whom NGIC personnel identified as having derogatory information that would make them ineligible for the parolee program conducted at [U.S.] safe havens. Specifically, NGIC personnel stated that they could not locate some Afghan evacuees when attempting to report derogatory information to the DOD and U.S. Government agencies supporting safe havens,” the report added.

More than 75,000 Afghan refugees were brought into the U.S. during August as part of Operation Allies Welcome. More than 50,000 of the evacuees were resettled from military bases into 46 U.S. states by the end of December.

The report came just before news broke that the Department of Homeland Security will house up to 1,000 Afghan refugees in a compound next to a Loudoun County high school and middle school, and made plans to do so with no communication with local authorities, Loudoun County, Virginia, Sheriff Mike Chapman said. The Daily Wire reported last week:

The sheriff “raised concerns about DHS’ lack of communication, lack of planning, language barriers, a failure to communicate with a myriad of potential stakeholders, and the NCC’s [National Conference Center’s] unfenced proximity to a residential neighborhood and two public schools.” The federal government claims that “many” of the Afghans served the U.S. as translators, but only 30% speak English, Chapman said in a statement.

Chapman wrote that his office “received an unannounced visit by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Protective Service (FPS) in which it learned that approximately 2000 Afghan refugees, per month, were slated to arrive at the Washington Dulles International Airport during a window beginning as early as February 19, 2022, and extending to September 2022. DHS/FPS regional personnel advised the refugees would be transported by bus to the National Conference Center (NCC) where they would stay until their ultimate relocation elsewhere in the United States… DHS/FPS advised that the refugees will be provided cash and cell phones from non-government organizations and be required to remain on the NCC grounds.”

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