Afghan Migrant Charged with Bomb Threat

The Afghan men were among more than 77,000 who were released into the country who weren’t properly vetted, according to an Inspector General report. It found that the Biden administration “admitted or paroled evacuees who were not fully vetted into the United States.” It didn’t have their “name, date of birth, identification number, and travel document data, was inaccurate, incomplete, or missing,” the OIG found.

The audit also uncovered that DHS didn’t have a list of Afghan evacuees “who were unable to provide sufficient identification documents,” or have “a contingency plan to support similar emergency situations.” As a result, it “may have admitted or paroled individuals into the United States who pose a risk to national security and the safety of local communities.”

The program was rife with problems, the audit found, including Afghan men who allegedly assaulted a female Fort Bliss, Texas, soldier; and others housed at Wisconsin’s Fort McCoy charged with engaging in sexual acts with a minor and assault. Republican members of Congress demanded answers about the vetting process and about thousands of Afghans sent to live on military bases and in local communities nationwide, The Center Square reported.

They didn’t receive answers as the Biden administration granted Afghan nationals Temporary Protective Status. The Trump administration terminated Afghan TPS in May, effective in July, according to DHS.

In 2024, an Afghan national released through the program was arrested in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for conspiring to conduct an Election Day terrorist attack on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, The Center Square reported.

In June, he pleaded guilty to two terrorism-related offenses: conspiring and attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS, and receiving, attempting to receive, and conspiring to receive firearms and ammunition in furtherance of a federal crime of terrorism.

He faces up to 35 years in prison; his coconspirator faces up to 15 years. Once their terms are completed, they will be deported and barred from reentry to the U.S., the Department of Justice said.