Biden-era Afghan refugee program had 40% error rate
The Biden administration’s Afghan refugee program was so flawed that it potentially allowed an untold number of terrorists and dangerous criminals into the country, according to a newly released Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report.
The OIG launched an investigation after it received complaints from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employees that a federal lawsuit settlement in Ahmed vs DHS created national security issues due to not having enough time to thoroughly vet claims.
The OIG investigation is the latest to raise national security concerns stemming from the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
At the time, the administration evacuated 97,000 Afghan nationals through Operation Allies Refuge and resettled them into the U.S. through Operation Allies Welcome, enabling them to apply for asylum. The OAW program was established through the Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022, which required USCIS to interview each OAW asylum applicant within 45 days of filing an asylum claim with no exceptions.
This wasn’t possible and in April 2023, the National Immigrant Justice Center and Kirkland & Ellis LLP filed a class action against USCIS “for failing to timely adjudicate the asylum applications.” In September 2023, a settlement was reached that “forced USCIS to adjudicate 90% of the program’s asylum applications within 150 days,” the Trump administration DHS said.
USCIS employees filed complaints about the process, warning the rushed timeline prevented them from comprehensively reviewing each application, match or flag records or screen for terrorism. The OIG then launched an investigation evaluating the process from March 2024 through January 2025.
Its new report says it identified a 40% error rate in the adjudication of OAW asylum files it reviewed. The “prevalence and type of error” suggests that USCIS “may have missed opportunities to potentially link names provided by applicants to derivative information, which in turn would compromise the integrity of alien registration file contents that future users rely on for immigration administration and enforcement activities,” it said. This included USCIS not being able to identify or link alias names provided by applicants that could have made them ineligible for asylum and flagged to be deported.
The OIG analyzed a statistical sample of 768 applications from 13,682 adjudicated applications from the OAW population. Of the data they were able to review, they identified 303 missed aliases, 23 missing security checks, 45 unresolved records, and 115 other document issues. The OIG also highlighted cases related to “potential inadmissibility on terrorism related grounds.”
In response, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, “Our asylum system should be as strict as possible. If even one dangerous criminal or terrorist slips through and enters our country, it endangers countless American lives. The Biden Administration dangerously mismanaged the Operation Allies Welcome program, disregarding all the thorough and well-established procedures of our asylum system and putting our nation at risk. Unlike the Biden Administration, the Trump Administration is putting the American people first and bringing an end to these reckless and rushed asylum practices.”
The OIG launched an investigation after it received complaints from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employees that a federal lawsuit settlement in Ahmed vs DHS created national security issues due to not having enough time to thoroughly vet claims.
The OIG investigation is the latest to raise national security concerns stemming from the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
At the time, the administration evacuated 97,000 Afghan nationals through Operation Allies Refuge and resettled them into the U.S. through Operation Allies Welcome, enabling them to apply for asylum. The OAW program was established through the Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022, which required USCIS to interview each OAW asylum applicant within 45 days of filing an asylum claim with no exceptions.
This wasn’t possible and in April 2023, the National Immigrant Justice Center and Kirkland & Ellis LLP filed a class action against USCIS “for failing to timely adjudicate the asylum applications.” In September 2023, a settlement was reached that “forced USCIS to adjudicate 90% of the program’s asylum applications within 150 days,” the Trump administration DHS said.
USCIS employees filed complaints about the process, warning the rushed timeline prevented them from comprehensively reviewing each application, match or flag records or screen for terrorism. The OIG then launched an investigation evaluating the process from March 2024 through January 2025.
Its new report says it identified a 40% error rate in the adjudication of OAW asylum files it reviewed. The “prevalence and type of error” suggests that USCIS “may have missed opportunities to potentially link names provided by applicants to derivative information, which in turn would compromise the integrity of alien registration file contents that future users rely on for immigration administration and enforcement activities,” it said. This included USCIS not being able to identify or link alias names provided by applicants that could have made them ineligible for asylum and flagged to be deported.
The OIG analyzed a statistical sample of 768 applications from 13,682 adjudicated applications from the OAW population. Of the data they were able to review, they identified 303 missed aliases, 23 missing security checks, 45 unresolved records, and 115 other document issues. The OIG also highlighted cases related to “potential inadmissibility on terrorism related grounds.”
In response, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, “Our asylum system should be as strict as possible. If even one dangerous criminal or terrorist slips through and enters our country, it endangers countless American lives. The Biden Administration dangerously mismanaged the Operation Allies Welcome program, disregarding all the thorough and well-established procedures of our asylum system and putting our nation at risk. Unlike the Biden Administration, the Trump Administration is putting the American people first and bringing an end to these reckless and rushed asylum practices.”
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