The Biden administration is reportedly planning to exempt some Taliban-era Afghan civil servants from terror-related bans that would normally prohibit them from being able to enter the United States.
Fox News obtained a draft document from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that outlines the administration’s plans to lift the restrictions on some of the Afghan civil servants who were employed by the Taliban government from 1996-2001. The plan would exempt the Afghan civil servants from terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds (TRIG) if they meet other requirements.
“TRIG places limits on individuals who are members of a terrorist organization or who have engaged in terrorism, making them inadmissible to the U.S. and ineligible for immigration benefits,” Fox News reported. “The USCIS website says that the definition of terrorism-related activity ‘is relatively broad and may apply to individuals and activities not commonly thought to be associated with terrorism.’ It means that TRIG would likely rule out those who worked under the Taliban regime, which ruled from 1996 until its ouster by the U.S. in 2001 due to its harboring of al Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks.”
The USCIS document obtained by Fox News states in part:
Many individuals who worked in civil service positions before the declaration of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 1996 continued to do so after the declaration. Some did so under duress or other situations of hardship.
Some used their positions in humanitarian capacities to mitigate the repressive actions of the Taliban regime, often at great personal risk. Some of these civil servants later worked for or helped the International Security Assistance Force, the U.S. government or the Afghan government that was established in Dec. 22, 2001.
The move was finalized during the final month of the Obama administration in January 2017, but it was never “published or applied to any refugees.”
The administration claimed to Fox News that the move would not change the screening and vetting process that is currently in existence.
“The effect [of the memo] is that people who worked as doctors, grade school teachers, civil servants or low-level government employees wouldn’t automatically be barred from ever entering the United States because they worked in those professions,” the official claimed, adding that the move’s status was “pre-decisional.”
The administration’s screening process has already been the subject of controversy as numerous stories have surfaced about alleged crimes already being committed on U.S. soil by Afghan nationals brought to the U.S. in wake of Democrat President Joe Biden’s disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.
Last month, the FBI launched an investigation into “the assault of a female Fort Bliss soldier by several male Afghan refugees at the Army’s Doña Ana Complex camp where thousands are currently being housed,” ABC-7 reported.
“We can confirm a female service member supporting Operation Allies Welcome reported being assaulted on Sept. 19 by a small group of male evacuees at the Doña Ana Complex in New Mexico,” Lt. Col. Allie Payne, director of Public Affairs for Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division, said in a statement. “We take the allegation seriously and appropriately referred the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The safety and well-being of our service members, as well as all of those on our installations, is paramount.”
“Task Force-Bliss is also implementing additional security measures to include increased health and safety patrols, additional lighting, and enforcement of the buddy system at the Dona Ana Complex,” the statement continued. “We will cooperate fully with the FBI and will continue to ensure the service member reporting this assault is fully supported.”
Also in September, two Afghan refugees were hit with federal charges for allegedly trying to rape a minor and suffocating a woman. The two cases were unrelated.
“Bahrullah Noori, 20, is charged with attempting to engage in a sexual act with a minor using force against that person, and with three counts of engaging in a sexual act with a minor, with one count alleging the use of force,” the Department of Justice said in a statement. “The indictment alleges that the victims had not attained the age of 16 years and were at least four years younger than the defendant.”
“Mohammad Haroon Imaad, 32, is charged with assaulting his spouse by strangling and suffocating her,” the statement continued. “The indictment alleges that the assault occurred on September 7, 2021.”