The rush to check the backgrounds of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees surging into the United States is raising new concerns that terrorists will slip through as the nation opens its heart to those thrown from their homeland.
“We’re not really vetting them before bringing them here — we can’t do it this fast,” said Ken Cuccinelli, a former top Homeland Security official who also oversaw the nation’s citizenship process.
“It’s normally an 18-24 month process with 14 steps. Think there might be shortcuts now?” he tweeted.
Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said bringing in so many refugees at once is a recipe for disaster. If a terrorist or undesirable Afghan is rooted out, he said, the administration has not figured out what to do.
“We can’t deport them back to Afghanistan,” he said. “Conclusion: We’re just going to resettle them in the U.S. regardless of the results of vetting.”
Former acting border chief Mark Morgan said he has heard from insiders that some of the thousands of Afghans arriving at Dulles International Airport have not been vetted fully. Worse, he said, some weren’t even on the manifest of travelers given to airport officials.
“Well, look, when you’re moving out 10,000 Afghans in a 24-hour period, there’s no way that they are doing a robust vetting before they’re getting on the plane,” Morgan said in an interview.
While the administration has promised to check the backgrounds of those airlifted out of Afghanistan before bringing them into the U.S. to be resettled in Washington, Chicago, New Jersey, Texas, and Wisconsin, “it’s not hyperbole to say that we can inadvertently, because we’re in such a rush, because of this chaos that’s been created, that we can actually import a terrorist into the United States, it’s horrific,” Morgan added.
He is urging critics to push back on the administration’s victory claims about saving refugees to focus on who they are.
“To claim victory about the 100,000 evacuations is like starting a deadly fire and giving yourself a medal for putting it out,” he said.
“We must temper our compassion and moral obligation with intelligence — both literally and figuratively. We cannot abandon the need for a robust, effective, and comprehensive vetting process,” added Morgan.
