A report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general, released on September 29, 2026, found vetting errors in 40% of asylum applications for Afghan migrants who entered the United States following the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. The review examined a sample of 678 asylum applications from Afghans resettled in the U.S. under the Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) program, identifying 303 missing aliases, 23 missing security checks, and over 150 other documentation issues.
The report indicated that these errors suggest that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may have missed opportunities to connect names provided by applicants to derogatory information, potentially compromising the integrity of the alien registration file (A-File) contents relied upon for immigration administration and enforcement activities.
In two specific cases, the report noted that missed aliases and incomplete documentation involved individuals who may have been inadmissible to the U.S. on terrorism-related grounds. In one case, additional paperwork for a potentially inadmissible Afghan was not included, which led to a second-level authority not approving the analysis. In another instance, while the additional paperwork was included and signed by higher-ups, a box indicating approval or disapproval of the analysis was left unchecked.
The report highlighted that the consequences of such documentation errors could range from being inconsequential to potentially impacting national security if files were not reviewed by USCIS supervisors. The investigation was initiated after USCIS employees raised concerns that a 2023 settlement in Ahmed v. DHS required them to process asylum claims more quickly than necessary for proper vetting.
The report noted that there was no statistically significant increase in the error rate following the September 2023 DHS settlement agreement. Republicans have raised concerns about the Operation Allies Welcome program, which facilitated the entry of over 70,000 Afghans into the U.S. after the 2021 troop withdrawal. It was reported last November that over 5,000 Afghans brought to the U.S. via OAW were flagged for national security issues.
In a related incident, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national resettled through the program, allegedly shot two National Guard soldiers near the White House, resulting in one death and one serious injury. Joseph Edlow, head of USCIS, agreed with all five recommendations from the DHS IG but noted that the report did not fully consider that the administrative errors occurred within a framework of established screening, vetting, and security checks designed to minimize their impact.