In a recently released audit report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) generally performed effectively in its critical support role during Operation Allies Refuge (OAR) and Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), the interagency efforts to evacuate and resettle Afghan nationals in 2021.
The audit, conducted by the Audit Division of the Department of Justice and released this week, focused on the FBI’s coordination with federal partners in screening, vetting, investigating, and continuously identifying Afghan evacuees for potential national security risks.
Background of the Operations:
Operation Allies Refuge (OAR) began in July 2021, led by the Department of State (DOS), to relocate Afghans eligible for U.S. Special Immigrant Visas.
Following the swift fall of the Afghan government to the Taliban in August 2021, Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) was initiated under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to facilitate the entry of approximately 90,000 vulnerable Afghans into the United States. While DHS, DOS, and the Department of Defense (DOD) led these efforts, the FBI provided crucial support by screening and vetting evacuees to mitigate national security threats.
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FBI’s Integral Role:
The FBI identified that the rapid evacuation necessitated by the Taliban takeover increased the risk of “bad actors” exploiting expedited entry processes. To counter this, four key FBI divisions were involved:
- Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) Operations Branch: Responsible for screening evacuees against the terrorist watchlist.
- Information Management Division (IMD): Conducted broader vetting using intelligence from U.S. government databases.
- Counterterrorism Division (CTD): Investigated potential national security threats.
- Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division: Performed continuous identity discovery using systems like the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and Next Generation Identification (NGI).
Key Audit Findings:
The audit concluded that the FBI generally provided timely information to its lead partner agencies, helping them determine whether Afghan evacuees posed a national security risk. The responsible FBI elements effectively communicated and addressed identified risks.
Terrorist Screening: The TSC successfully utilized its existing screening process. As of May 2023, the TSC identified 55 Afghan evacuees who were either already on the terrorist watchlist or were added during the evacuation and resettlement process, and who subsequently made it to a U.S. port of entry.
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The FBI promptly notified appropriate external agencies and followed internal procedures to mitigate potential threats in these cases. As of July 2024, nine of these individuals remained on the watchlist and were being tracked, while the remaining 46 were removed for various reasons, including a determination that they no longer posed a threat.
“As with any population entering the United States, it is the responsibility of the U.S. government to ensure those seeking entry do not pose a national security or public safety risk,” the report states.
Vetting Challenges and Mitigation: While the IMD’s vetting process was found to be effective, the audit noted initial limitations due to incomplete or inaccurate biographical information provided by federal partners, particularly during the emergent Phase One of the evacuation (August-September 2021).
This could have led to derogatory information being missed initially. However, the audit found this risk was largely mitigated by subsequent re-vetting efforts in Phase Two (October 2021-October 2022) when additional identifiers became available, and by the TSC’s separate notification to the CTD regarding watchlisted individuals.
Investigative Actions: The CTD received referrals and conducted investigative work for all 55 watchlisted evacuees who traveled to the United States. The FBI Field Offices used various investigative tools, such as assessments and preliminary or full investigations, to address these referrals. Most of these assessments and investigations were closed, with individuals removed from the watchlist when appropriate. Open investigations remained subject to monitoring.
Continuous Identity Discovery: CJIS played a vital role in continuous identity discovery. Through an agreement with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), CJIS assisted in enrolling parolees in the NCIC continuous evaluation tool and utilizing the NGI system for biometric checks.
Between February 2022 and June 2023, over 97,300 enrollment records were submitted to NCIC, resulting in over 195,000 hit notifications to CBP. Additionally, between July 2022 and June 2023, NGI ingested over 49,200 fingerprint records for Afghan evacuees, leading to 248 criminal notifications, 17 of which were related to national security threats (watchlist matches). The audit confirmed that the FBI appropriately handled these continuous discovery findings.
The report also mentions the public filing of charges in October 2024 against Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, an Afghan citizen residing in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for conspiring to conduct a terrorist attack in the United States on behalf of ISIS on Election Day 2024.
According to allegations, Tawhedi entered the U.S. in September 2021. While this specific case fell outside the audit’s direct scope, information related to him and the 55 evacuees reviewed is detailed in a classified appendix to the report.
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No Formal Recommendations:
The audit report did not contain any formal recommendations to the FBI, and the FBI opted not to provide an official response to the draft. However, the audit emphasizes the importance of continuous evaluation and streamlining of screening and vetting processes to enhance preparedness for future emergencies.
Overall, the audit provides a positive assessment of the FBI’s supportive role in OAR and OAW, highlighting its effective coordination and mitigation of potential national security risks during a complex and urgent humanitarian operation.
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