White House DEFENDS Homeland Security following damning report on vetting ‘flaws’ for Afghans

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended the ‘rigorous’ U.S. screening process for Afghan refugees, after a Homeland security auditor found the agency granted parole to evacuees who ‘were not fully vetted.’

She was asked Wednesday about a damning new report by the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, who found DHS lacked ‘critical data to properly screen, vet and inspect’ the evacuees, who came after the U.S. sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan last year.

‘We determined some information used to vet evacuees through U.S. Government databases, such as name, date of birth, identification number, and travel document data, was inaccurate, incomplete, or missing,’ according to the report, by DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari.  

‘We also determined CBP admitted or paroled evacuees who were not fully vetted into the United States,’ according to the report, after investigators spoke to 130 officials including those from Customs and Border Protection. 

‘That very report did not take into account the key steps in that rigorous, you heard from us, rigorous and multi-layered screening and vetting process the US government took before at-risk Afghans were permitted to come to the US,’ Jean-Pierre said Wednesday at the White House press briefing.

When pressed, she referred back to DHS. ‘It did not take into full account of what the other eight agencies are involved in making sure that this multi-layered process and screening process – it is a it is a multi-agency effort, and it did not this particular report did not include that,’ she said.

She also tried to bat back a question from Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, who asked if MAGA was more of a threat than people DHS says may pose a risk. 

‘Again, DHS has disputed this report. It said it didn’t take into account the key steps that we have taken as a US government – the rigorous, multi layered screening and vetting process that we take as a government – that was not part of the report. Again, this report is not accurate. I know that our team has spoken to your team about this, and the DHS has provided a comment saying just that,’ she said.

The US brought in tens of thousands of refugees under Operation Allies Welcome (OAW)

Afghan people climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport in Kabul on August 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan’s 20-year war

Handout file photo issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of a full flight of 265 people supported by members of the UK Armed Forces on board an evacuation flight out of Kabul airport, Afghanistan

Jean-Pierre got asked about the report by Fox News reporter Peter Doocy

She was referencing an official response by Homeland Security saying the agency was ‘concerned’ with the report’s conclusions. 

The response said it does not ‘reflect the interagency nature of the vetting process, despite significant efforts and multiple attempts by DHS program officials, subject matter experts, and others to provide the OIG a comprehensive understanding of the extensive details related to the numerous facts and nuances of the unprecedented … vetting process.’ The report ‘creates confusion with regard to terminology and roles,’ according to the response.

The U.S. undertook the effort after the fall of the Afghan government in Kabul in August 2021. 

Under Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), the U.S. processed tens of thousands of evacuees using the expedited process of humanitarian parole 

The report said ‘dozens’ of Afghan evacuees with ‘derogatory information’ got admitted into the country. 

“DHS may have admitted or paroled individuals into the United States who pose a risk to national security and the safety of local communities,’ according to the report. 

Top Democrats in Congress have called for Cuffari to step down over missing Secret Service texts that committees are seeking in connection with January 6 probes after more than a year of texts got erased immediately after Joe Biden took office.