exclusive: The Biden administration has granted nearly 7,000 exemptions, primarily refugees, to foreign nationals who may be ineligible to enter the United States due to terrorism-related entry restrictions. This number is significantly higher than in recent years.
Fox News Digital reviewed a draft of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) 2024 Report to Congress regarding the application of the Secretary of Homeland Security's (DHS) Terrorism-Related Inadmissible Events (TRIG) waiver authority to aliens. Foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States may be deemed inadmissible for admission and immigration benefits if they have associated with, supported, or collaborated with a terrorist organization.
However, the Secretary of DHS may exempt certain aliens from such inadmissibility. This also includes cases where you meet other exemption criteria, such as when you provide assistance or medical care under duress.
Senators sound alarm over terrorism-related exemptions for Afghans entering US, warn against 'unrestricted authority'
A reporter raises his hand to ask a question to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during a press conference at the White House on Monday, July 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
According to the draft report, there were 6,848 TRIG exemptions in 2024, the majority of which (6,653) were for refugees, but the report does not break down the number by country. The Biden administration significantly increased the refugee cap to 125,000, up from the 18,000 the Trump administration set last year.
This figure of 6,848 is significantly higher than the 2,085 exemptions issued in 2016. 2023which was higher than the previous year. According to the DHS report, 603 waivers were distributed in fiscal year 2022, 191 in fiscal year 2021 and 361 in fiscal year 2020.
In 2022, DHS announced an exemption for Afghan evacuees who worked as public servants or individuals who provided “non-essential or specific limited material support” to designated terrorist groups. DHS said this could apply to many professions, including teachers, doctors, engineers and those who used their positions to defuse Taliban oppression. The waiver comes amid a mass evacuation of Afghanistan's population after the Taliban took control of the country in 2021.
The fiscal year 2024 report said 29 waivers were granted to Afghan allies supporting U.S. interests in Afghanistan, and 374 were granted to public officials. Meanwhile, 3,134 cases were for those who provided certain limited support or non-essential material support to Tier I or Tier II terrorist organizations under the 2022 exemptions announced by DHS. Most of the remaining exemptions (2,946) were granted under the 2007 Assistance Under Mandatory Powers Act.
DHS announces terror bar exemption for Afghan refugees who worked as Taliban-era civil servants
Of those who received non-refugee exemptions, 155 were asylum seekers, 22 were green card holders, and 4 were temporary protected status applicants.
The TRIG waiver expansion comes ahead of a Trump administration that is expected to sharply reduce refugee admissions while increasing deportations of undocumented immigrants and tightening security at the southern border.
Republicans and former Trump administration officials have frequently criticized the Biden administration for expanding migration routes and releasing migrants into the interior, partly due to concerns about potential terrorism risks.
“Rather than catching actual terrorists and keeping them out of the country, Joe Biden and his administration viciously targeted parents, pro-life Americans, Catholics, and Trump supporters at school board meetings, and some have been designated as “domestic terrorists,'' Michael Bars, former deputy assistant secretary for DHS and White House senior communications adviser to President Trump, told Fox News Digital. “In fact, they are assisting the infiltration of potential threats, allowing individuals to enter the country in extraordinary numbers, exempt from national security measures, and who have provided varying degrees of material support to Islamic terrorist organizations. .
Taliban fighters celebrate the third anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sidikula Alizai)
“Islamic terrorism is not ‘homegrown’; it was brought to the United States through a broken immigration system and open borders. I did,” he said.
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DHS did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital, but the report emphasizes that all applicants are subject to a thorough and “rigorous” security vetting process.
“All applicants for waivers were subject to a thorough and rigorous security vetting process,” the report states. ”[U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] This process screens all applicants' biographical and biometric data against extensive databases in the law enforcement and intelligence communities that contain information on individuals known to be security threats, including terrorist watch lists. That is what is required. In addition to rigorous background checks, the Secretary's discretion is only applied on a case-by-case basis, after carefully considering all factors and passing all security checks. ”
“These waivers allow eligible individuals who do not pose a risk to national security or public safety to receive asylum, refugee status, or other lawful immigration status,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. “This demonstrates the United States' continued commitment to our allies and their families in Afghanistan.” In 2022, he said:
The Biden administration previously also addressed previous uses of the TRIG exemption, which applied to those involved in Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, including in 2019. The USCIS website also says: The definition of terrorism-related activity is “relatively broad and may apply to individuals and activities not generally considered to be related to terrorism,” it said.
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The use of TRIG exemptions has proven controversial among Republicans. In August 2022, a coalition of senators sounded the alarm about the 2022 exemption, saying the exemption for those providing insignificant or limited assistance was written in a way that would not be limited to Afghans.
“In fact, it is in no way limited to any particular conflict, terrorist organization, geographic region, or time period,” they said.
