Inspector General Reports Vetting Errors in Afghan Resettlement

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General, Joseph Cuffari, has disclosed that during the Biden administration, mistakes in vetting procedures affected 40 percent of asylum applications tied to the Afghan resettlement initiative.

In 2021, as part of the withdrawal of U.S. Armed Forces from Afghanistan, Biden’s administration launched Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), which facilitated the resettlement of about 75,000 Afghans within a few months. Notably, some of these individuals did not undergo in-person interviews prior to their relocation.

According to the DHS IG, around 40 percent of asylum files for Afghan migrants contained vetting errors.

Cuffari’s report suggests that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services might have overlooked opportunities to connect applicants’ names with negative information, potentially undermining the reliability of alien registration files (A-Files) used for immigration management and law enforcement.

The Inspector General’s final report, released on September 23, 2026, outlined findings based on an analysis of 678 cases from the OAW population that had undergone adjudication. The review discovered numerous issues, including 303 missed aliases, 23 missing security checks, 45 unresolved records, and 115 additional documentation problems. Most errors stemmed from overlooked aliases or incomplete documentation, with a few cases raising concerns about terrorism-related inadmissibility. Some inaccuracies occurred when an Asylum Officer failed to recognize a variation in spelling or neglectfully didn’t add a document to the A-file.

These revelations from the DHS IG are just the latest indications of shortcomings in how the Biden administration handled the resettlement of thousands of Afghans in 2021 and 2022.

In a notable incident, a 27-year-old Afghan man was arrested in Oklahoma last year for allegedly planning a terrorist attack on Election Day. He had been resettled in the U.S. as part of OAW.

Furthermore, in April 2023, a former Department of Defense (DOD) official disclosed that some Afghans who were not vetted prior to resettlement had been found to have a history of placing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan aimed at American military personnel.

Back in 2021, Senator Chuck Grassley had sought information from the Biden administration about how many Afghans with ties to Islamic terrorism sought entry into the U.S. and were placed on the government’s “No Fly List.” However, top agency officials did not provide that information.

In September 2022, the DHS IG published a striking report highlighting that the Biden administration had brought in Afghans who had not been thoroughly vetted, raising concerns about potential risks to national security.

A separate DOD IG report from February 2022 indicated that the vetting of Afghans arriving in the U.S. was inadequate, with around 50 individuals flagged for major security concerns after their arrival.

The report revealed that many of those unvetted Afghans associated with terrorism alerts have since blended into various American communities, with only three out of 31 Afghans identified with specific negative information being located as of September 17, 2021.

In August 2022, Senators Josh Hawley and Ron Johnson shared allegations from a whistleblower claiming that the Biden administration was aware that nearly 400 Afghans resettled in the U.S. had been flagged as “potential threats” and had pressured staff to expedite the vetting process.

Additionally, a report from Project Veritas in May 2022 suggested that the administration resettled Afghans listed on the federal government’s “Terrorism Watch List” within U.S. communities.