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The recent DHS Office of Inspector General evaluation of Operation Allies Welcome is a wake-up call. The report found a troubling rate of adjudication errors in asylum files tied to the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan. Activists are flocking to Washington to defend the program, but national security is not a campaign slogan. It is time for a serious, targeted re-vetting of Afghan evacuees who received Special Immigrant Visas and green cards.
DHS OIG report lays bare vetting problems
The DHS OIG review looked at a sample of asylum files and found about a 40% error rate in adjudications. Those errors include missing name variants, unresolved record matches, and absent security checks. That 40% number covers paperwork and process failures, not a certificate that every person was vetted wrongly. Still, a high rate of administrative failures in Operation Allies Welcome means the system did not work the way it should have.
There are real, documented cases that worry us
This is not just about sloppy paperwork. There have been criminal prosecutions tied to evacuees who arrived during the evacuation: the man charged in the ambush of two National Guard members in Washington, suspects accused of planning attacks or supporting ISIS‑K, and even visa‑fraud convictions for U.S. personnel who took bribes to sign fake recommendation letters. Those cases are public and they make clear the SIV program was abused in places. Combine that with the OIG’s finding and you see why national security cannot be treated like optional overhead.
How a responsible re-vetting should work
President Trump and Secretary Markwayne Mullin should order a focused, smart re-vetting effort — not a political witch hunt and not bureaucratic theater. Start with SIV holders who are about to become citizens and anyone with fraud indicators like suspicious recommendation letters. Run thorough name checks, new biometric and records matches, and coordinate with DOJ and intelligence partners. Do it surgically. A blanket redo would be costly, slow, and could endanger Afghans who genuinely helped U.S. forces — but doing nothing is reckless.
National security first, politics second
Advocates argue the OIG numbers are misleading and that refugees deserve protection. Fine. Compassion is important. But compassion that ignores security is not compassion — it is negligence. The American people deserve both the rule of law and safe streets. A fair, targeted re-vetting of Operation Allies Welcome beneficiaries protects allies and Americans alike. If Washington won’t act, it will be judged by whatever preventable tragedy comes next — and that judgment won’t be kind. Time to fix vetting, not excuse it.
