Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday refused to reply questions on an Afghan nationwide accused of an Election Day terror plot on behalf of ISIS, amid ongoing issues in regards to the vetting of these delivered to the U.S.
Fox Information’ Jacqui Heinrich questioned Mayorkas at a White Home briefing on Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, who was arrested and charged with conspiring and trying to supply materials help to ISIS and receiving a firearm for use to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism.
The submitting within the case initially stated Tawhedi got here to the U.S. on a Particular Immigrant Visa, in Sept. 2021 after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and is now on parole, though officers have since clarified that he got here to the U.S. by way of humanitarian parole and later utilized for SIV standing.
AFGHAN NATIONAL CHARGED WITH ELECTION DAY TERROR PLOT REIGNITES VETTING CONCERNSÂ
Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks Oct. 1, 2024, throughout a briefing on the White Home in Washington. (AP Picture/Mark Schiefelbein)
Heinrich requested Mayorkas how he was delivered to the U.S. and the screening he underwent. However Mayorkas stated he wished to deal with the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. He was in North Carolina and took part within the briefing remotely.
“Over 200 individuals have misplaced their lives in Hurricane Helene. Now we have experiences that at the very least ten people have misplaced their lives on account of Hurricane Milton. And I might be more than happy to reply your query in a special setting, however we’re right here to speak about emergencies and the help that we are able to ship to individuals in determined want,” he stated.
Heinrich requested once more, particularly asking why he didn’t have solutions ready, however Mayorkas stated that was not the case.
“What I stated is, I might be happy to debate this difficulty at a special time, however I’m right here to discuss disasters which have impacted individuals’s lives in actual time. And that may be a topic that I’m addressing at the moment,” he stated.
Heinrich adopted as much as ask once more however Mayorkas once more declined.
“Jacqui, your persistence in questioning could be matched by my persistence in solutions,” he stated.
After the alternate, a senior administration official instructed Fox Information that Tawhedi was screened thrice. He was screened first to work safety for the CIA in Afghanistan, then for humanitarian parole to enter the U.S. in 2021 – the place he was vetted and screened in a 3rd nation — after which for particular immigrant standing, for which he was permitted. His standing has not but been finalized. At the moment, officers consider he was radicalized after coming to the U.S.
There may be additionally no indication that there have been any purple flags that ought to have barred his entry at any level within the course of. His alleged co-conspirator within the case entered the nation in 2018 and in addition handed vetting to obtain a inexperienced card.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi makes the “Tawhid” gesture. Â (Division of Justice)
AFGHAN MAN IN OKLAHOMA PLOTTED ELECTION DAY TERROR ATTACK IN US ON BEHALF OF ISIS, JUSTICE DEPT SAYS
The U.S. introduced in additional than 97,000 evacuees through the evacuation in 2021, of which about 77,000 have been admitted by way of humanitarian parole, by a program referred to as Operation Allies Welcome.Â
However the brand new case has renewed issues about vetting in this system, which have been recognized for years by the DHS inside watchdog and by Republicans in Congress. In 2022, the DHS Workplace of Inspector Normal launched a report during which it stated it discovered that officers “didn’t at all times have important information to correctly display screen, vet, or examine the evacuees.”Â
“In consequence, DHS could have admitted or paroled people into the US who pose a danger to nationwide safety and the security of native communities,” the report stated.
DHS OIG FAULTS AFGHAN VETTING, WARNS NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS MAY HAVE ENTERED US
A Pentagon inspector common report the identical 12 months revealed that at the very least 50 evacuees have been delivered to the U.S. whose info indicated “probably severe safety issues” and that officers have been unable to find dozens with derogatory info.
A 2024 report discovered “vulnerabilities” within the processes of two DHS businesses for resolving derogatory info. It additionally discovered that DHS didn’t have a course of for monitoring the expiration of the two-year parole interval and pointers for figuring out “re-parole” for parolees are “undefined.”
The Biden administration has repeatedly defended the vetting course of, arguing that there’s a multilayered course of that features labeled and unclassified vetting, together with in opposition to Pentagon and FBI databases in addition to Interpol notices and different info.Â
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“Afghan evacuees who sought to enter the US have been topic to multi layered screening and vetting in opposition to intelligence, legislation enforcement, and counterterrorism info,” a DHS spokesperson stated on Wednesday. “If new info emerges after arrival, applicable motion is taken.”Â
However the newest revelation has solely fueled issues from Republicans. In a letter to Mayorkas on Tuesday, Home Homeland Safety Committee Chairman Mark Inexperienced stated it was “unacceptable that the Biden-Harris administration is precariously failing to take measures to safeguard U.S. nationwide safety by permitting alleged terrorists into the inside of the US to plot terrorist assaults.”
Fox Information’ Matteo Cina contributed to this report.
