A historical past of ‘Operation Allies Welcome,’ which allowed Afghans U.S. entry : NPR

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Anthony Peltier/AP Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan man suspected of taking pictures two Nationwide Guard members in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, was within the U.S. after coming into the nation in 2021 below a program known as Operation Allies Welcome. His motives are nonetheless unknown.

Here is a have a look at why this system was arrange and the way Afghans who entered the U.S. had been vetted.

The origins of Operation Allies Welcome When Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021 there have been chaotic scenes as 1000's of Afghans rushed to the airport determined to flee. The world watched in horror as some amongst them had been crushed to demise within the crowds making an attempt to flee.

The U.S. exit from Afghanistan occurred throughout former President Joe Biden's time period, however it was set in movement by the primary Trump administration, which signed a take care of the Taliban in 2020 to withdraw after 20 years within the nation.

On saying the top of the conflict on Aug. 31, 2021, Biden hailed the U.S. evacuation of Afghans as unprecedented and vowed to proceed to help these below menace.

"As for the Afghans, we and our companions have airlifted 100,000 of them," he stated in an deal with. "We are going to proceed to work to assist extra individuals go away the nation who're in danger. And we're removed from carried out."

Two days earlier than this deal with he had instructed the Division of Homeland Safety to "lead and coordinate ongoing efforts throughout the federal authorities to help susceptible Afghans, together with those that labored alongside us in Afghanistan for the previous 20 years, as they safely resettle in the US."

These efforts had been known as Operation Allies Welcome (OAW). This system was set as much as enable Afghans — particularly those that is likely to be focused by the Taliban for having labored with allied forces of their 20 years in Afghanistan — to enter the U.S. for 2 years on parole with out everlasting immigration standing. They had been anticipated to then apply for different means to remain within the nation, like asylum.

About 40% of those that got here had been eligible for Particular Immigrant Visas due to the nice dangers they took to assist the U.S., or had been a member of the family of somebody who helped the U.S., in line with the Division of Homeland Safety.

OAW was in place for about one 12 months after which shifted to a longer-term program known as Operation Enduring Welcome. Nearly 200,000 Afghans resettled within the U.S. below each packages.

How had been they vetted? DHS stated the Afghans underwent "rigorous" vetting to make sure they didn't pose a nationwide safety menace. Some 400 personnel throughout U.S. companies carried out the checks which concerned "biometric and biographic screenings carried out by intelligence, regulation enforcement, and counterterrorism professionals," the company stated.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F77%2F7a%2Ffe197c0744428f2a752c840daf5e%2Fap25230703016250.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F77%2F7a%2Ffe197c0744428f2a752c840daf5e%2Fap25230703016250.jpg" class="img" alt="In this Aug. 22, 2021, file photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, Afghan passengers board a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III during the Afghanistan evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan." loading="lazy"/> On this Aug. 22, 2021, file picture supplied by the U.S. Air Drive, Afghan passengers board a U.S. Air Drive C-17 Globemaster III in the course of the Afghanistan evacuation at Hamid Karzai Worldwide Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. MSgt. Donald R. Allen/U.S. Air Drive/AP cover caption

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MSgt. Donald R. Allen/U.S. Air Drive/AP "This course of consists of reviewing fingerprints, pictures, and different biometric and biographic knowledge for each single Afghan earlier than they're cleared to journey to the US," it stated.

After arriving within the U.S. the Afghans had been additional processed at U.S. navy bases earlier than being allowed into the neighborhood.

Nevertheless, this system did come below some criticism from Republicans who stated the Afghans weren't all correctly vetted. In 2024, the DHS Workplace of Inspector Common launched a report which admitted to some failings, together with knowledge inaccuracies in a number of the information of Afghans who got here via this system.

One other report was launched in June this 12 months by the Division of Justice trying on the FBI's position in OAW.

"In line with the FBI, the necessity to instantly evacuate Afghans overtook the conventional processes required to find out whether or not people trying to enter the US pose a menace to nationwide safety, which elevated the chance that unhealthy actors might attempt to exploit the expedited evacuation," the report stated.

It famous 55 people evacuated from Afghanistan below OAW had been later recognized on terrorism watch lists. For probably the most half although, the report concluded the FBI had carried out job flagging potential threats and the vast majority of evacuees weren't thought-about safety dangers.

What is the state of affairs for Afghans now? After Wednesday's taking pictures of the Nationwide Guard members, President Trump railed towards OAW on social media, saying: "We should now re-examine each single alien who has entered our nation from Afghanistan below Biden and we should take all obligatory measures to make sure the elimination of any alien from any nation who doesn't belong right here or add profit to our nation."

CIA Director John Ratcliffe stated "the Biden Administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the US in September 2021 resulting from his prior work with the U.S. Authorities, together with CIA."

Shortly after the shootings, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies introduced it had stopped processing immigration purposes from Afghan nationals.

However tens of 1000's of Afghans are already in limbo. Around the globe, over 40,000 Afghans are nonetheless actively pursuing resettlement within the U.S., with greater than 10,000 accepted to relocate by the U.S. authorities.