Andy Ogles Asks DHS IGs: Did Biden Admin. 'Adequately Vet' Afghan Evacuees During Withdrawal?

3 hours ago

During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Tuesday, rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) spoke about the granting of parole to Afghan collaborators during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

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Transcript

00:00The gentleman yields back. I now would like to recognize the gentleman from Tennessee

00:06for his five minutes of questioning. Mr. Ogles.

00:08Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Lang, after the Biden administration's disastrous withdrawal

00:14from Afghanistan, Biden offered tens of thousands of Afghans passage into the United States.

00:20We all understand the desire to get known trusted partners to the United States, perhaps

00:25safety safely after withdrawal. But there are also many hostile, violent people in Afghanistan.

00:32Did the Biden administration adequately vet Afghans before granting them parole?

00:39Ms. Lang. Thank you for that question. The screening

00:44and vetting of Afghan evacuees at the time was a subject of one of our reports. Kristin,

00:51I would like to pass. It was part of. Ms. Barnhart, if I.

00:55Sure. Yeah, I can take that. We did do an audit in 2022 to look at the screening and

01:02vetting of the Afghan withdrawals. We did in our population, we did find that I believe

01:12it was 35 who were allowed to board a flight that hadn't been fully screened. And generally,

01:20we found that CBP did not always have accurate and complete data for conducting the screening

01:29of those evacuees. In some cases, they were just missing their identification. So we didn't

01:36even have biographic information to screen. Since that time, the department has provided

01:44documentation that all of the evacuees have been screened. And that's something that we're

01:48still looking at now to validate. So to be clear, at the time that they were granted

01:54parole, we did not have the entire picture of who these individuals were. In some cases,

02:00we did not have their identifications. I think it's safe to say that some of the very people

02:06that have torn that country apart, some of the very folks from Afghanistan that we might

02:11otherwise allow to be here, they allowed the folks they're running from to come with them.

02:18This is a disaster. This is a recipe for disaster. And also keep in mind, that little

02:24event called 9-11 was planned in Afghanistan. So we have folks in this country, that country,

02:32that don't like the United States of America. We've seen it on full display for decades

02:36now. And the botched withdrawal, the failed policies of the Biden administration, and

02:42allowing folks from a hostile nation to come here unvetted makes America less safe. And

02:48to be clear, we know that we've let individuals on the terror watch list into this nation.

02:54Some took the parole program, some have walked through our southern border. This is a failure

02:58of the Biden administration. Enough is enough. So as you see President Trump going through

03:03the process of closing the border, as you see the mechanism where we're deporting individuals,

03:09this is our country. These are our borders. If you're not from here, you are a guest.

03:15And we get to decide who comes in and who has to leave. And the way forward, as we face the

03:22barreling debt this country has in our future, is we get to decide. The average immigrant family

03:31that comes here illegally will cost the American taxpayer a million dollars.

03:37A million dollars. Where's that money coming from? It's coming from you. It's coming from me.

03:43It's coming from hardworking Americans. And it's time that we do the hard thing.

03:49That we admit that the Biden administration, or for that matter any administration,

03:54who allowed folks to be here that shouldn't be here, that we send them home. That we give them

04:00the opportunity to go back home. And look, I don't blame anyone for wanting to come here.

04:08I have three children. My wife and I, we have three children. We walk through fire and over

04:12glass to give them a better life. But if you want to come to this country, our country,

04:19you can do it the right way. And you're going to follow our rules and our laws. And if you

04:26don't like it, you can leave. And I'm not going to be apologetic for a president, or for myself,

04:35or for my colleagues who understand and respect the rule of law. And respect everyone,

04:43citizen, non-citizen, guest, illegal. You're going to follow our laws. And if you're here

04:50illegally, you need to get out. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

Andy Ogles Asks DHS IGs: Did Biden Admin. 'Adequately Vet' Afghan Evacuees During Withdrawal?

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