Just a day before Thanksgiving, two National Guard members lost their lives in a targeted shooting by Afghan refugees in Washington, D.C. Following this tragic event, one individual later passed away from their injuries.
In response, President Trump decided to suspend asylum applications and visas for Afghan nationals. What’s interesting is how his opponents reacted. It’s as if they think one bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bunch—though I’m not so sure about that.
Allow me to explain why I think they might be missing the point.
Reflecting back, the U.S. welcomed Afghan refugees during President Biden’s tumultuous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Supporters of the resettlement initiative argued that those who aided the U.S. during the two-decade-long conflict deserved consideration. However, it quickly became apparent that the evacuation wasn’t limited to just those who had worked closely with the military. Instead, flights out of Kabul included thousands of unidentified individuals, leaving many Americans behind and relocating many to third countries for “testing.”
Rather than prioritizing the safe return of American citizens and trusted allies, the Biden administration has forged ahead with a broader plan that claims to assist individuals expressing fear of the Taliban. It was noted that by October 2021, only a small percentage of the 82,000 Afghans admitted into the U.S. held Special Immigrant Visas (SIV), which undergo a more thorough vetting process.
In an interview from August 2021, Stephen Miller warned that if the U.S. were to accept all Afghans who had even the slightest connection to U.S. efforts, the numbers could soar to about a million. To date, roughly 200,000 Afghan refugees have settled in the U.S.
Miller pointed out that the vetting process heavily depends on the information provided by the applicants. Disturbingly, the Biden administration seemed to rely mostly on databases of known criminals and terrorists while dismissing the importance of many in-person interviews.
According to reports, numerous applicants lacked proper identification or couldn’t remember their birthdates, which led to many having their dates recorded as January 1. If someone didn’t appear as a terrorist in the U.S. database, they might have passed through inspection, even if they raised red flags.
A 2022 report revealed serious shortcomings in the Operation Allied Refuge (OAR) program, noting that Customs and Border Protection often lacked critical data to properly screen evacuees. Many records had inaccuracies, omissions, or were simply missing.
Of the nearly 89,000 applicants screened, some had no first or last names recorded, while several thousand had unknown birth dates or other documentation issues. A significant number didn’t even undergo biometric screening.
Things took an even darker turn: the shooter who killed the two guardsmen was linked to a CIA team known as “Team Zero,” labeled as “death squads” by human rights organizations due to their violent reputation. Since 2021, about 10,000 members from such units have been resettled in the U.S.
Moreover, it’s tough to gauge ideology. Many of Afghanistan’s cultural norms certainly clash with Western values. For instance, a 2013 Pew Research poll showed that only 24% of Afghan Muslims oppose honor killings, while a staggering 79% support executing those who wish to convert to other religions.
This shooting wasn’t an isolated incident. In September 2021, a refugee was charged with assaulting his spouse at a military base, and there were multiple reports of other violent crimes among Afghan refugees during that time.
In January 2022, an Afghan interpreter was convicted of sexually abusing a young girl, citing cultural differences as a justification. Then just this year, another Afghan man was caught planning a terrorist attack.
Earlier this year, an Afghan refugee who had immigrated in 2014 after serving as a military interpreter was shot and killed during a traffic stop, expressing anger towards his involvement with the U.S. military.
I previously noted back in 2021 that, years after President George W. Bush declared we would “fight them over there, so we don’t have to confront them here,” the situation has unfolded very differently. With how poorly the evacuations were managed, it’s likely we’ll be facing some real challenges on our own soil, and it’s alarming to think we might be rolling out the welcome mat for those who could pose a threat.
It’s disheartening, honestly, that it took such events for us to realize this reality.
What else is on my mind?
It’s interesting how criticisms can sometimes go back and forth. Recently, Wajahat Ali directed attacks at white Americans, which led to quite a stir.
And there’s also a rather bizarre ongoing situation in Kentucky involving allegations against a county employee managing a sex ring—admitting to problems like these can be a unique choice, I suppose.
Then, Tim Walz acknowledged that his welfare state “attracts criminals,” which seems to skirt around the issue of responsibility for fraud in the system.
