Senators alarmed after Afghan refugees walk off military bases by the hundreds
Fox News
Senate Republicans are demanding answers from the Biden administration amid reports that hundreds of Afghan evacuees are walking off U.S. military bases without completing the resettlement process.
Many Afghan evacuees brought to U.S. military bases during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August were given the temporary status of "humanitarian parole" and then were expected to obtain resettlement services to complete their transition into the country. The senators’ letter demanding more information follows a report Saturday by Reuters that said at least 700 Afghan evacuees left U.S. bases without receiving those services.
While immigration experts told Reuters that those individuals are not breaking the law and that military officials have no legal authority to detain law-abiding Afghans, the senators worry some evacuees are slipping through alleged cracks in the vetting process. They're asking the administration to temporarily halt relocating Afghan evacuees to the U.S. unless they are fully vetted Afghans holding Special Immigration Visas, and to pause resettlement of Afghans already paroled into the U.S. until the Department of Defense Inspector General completes a thorough review of the vetting process and briefs members of Congress.