A recent Capitol Hill policy briefing sponsored by the Center for Immigration Studies and the Ben Franklin Fellowship examined the long-term security implications of the Biden administration’s Afghan evacuation program. Excerpts from the event are featured in this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, titled “Stopping the Next Afghan Terrorist Attack: Mitigating the Vetting Failures, Fraud, and Corruption of the Biden-Era Evacuation Program.”

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), a member of the House Judiciary Committee and co-chair of the Border Security Caucus, opened the discussion by warning that the Biden-era “Operation Allies Welcome” for Afghan nationals evolved into “an unmanageable and unsafe process.” He argued that safeguards became optional and that statutory vetting standards were weakened. “We’re not abandoning allies,” Biggs said. “We’re importing unvetted migrants. And the only promise we were breaking was our oath to keep American citizens safe and protect our borders and our people.” He emphasized that security vetting protects both Americans and the integrity of legitimate humanitarian programs.

Andrew Veprek, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), detailed how the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program had expanded far beyond the original SIV statutory framework. He noted that while the traditional SIV category required 15 years of faithful service and chief-of-mission approval, the Afghan program extensively broadened eligibility and reduced verification standards, gutting statutory requirements. There are still roughly 120,000 principal applicants still in the SIV pipeline (not including family members, which could quintuple the total). President Trump has put a hold on these.

James Rogers, a former Foreign Service officer and whistleblower, described systemic pressure for rapid visa processing and adjudication. He cited widespread document irregularities and estimated substantial fraud, potentially higher than 75%, within the applicant pool. Rogers called for structural whistleblower protections and reforms to separate investigative and defensive functions within the employee grievance process.

Mark Krikorian, the Center's executive director and podcast host, concludes the podcast discussion by highlighting a recent development in Afghanistan that complicates U.S. policy even further: the Taliban's recent issuance of a new penal code that formally recognizes slavery. Krikorian argues that Afghan nationals seeking entry to the U.S. can now claim they are fleeing slavery, triggering asylum grants despite the impossibility of meaningful vetting. He advocates eliminating defensive asylum claims and instead transferring applicants to safe third countries willing to accept them.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies

Guests

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and co-chair of the Border Security Caucus

Andrew Veprek is the Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM)

James Rogers, is a former Foreign Service officer and whistleblower

Related

The Ben Franklin Fellowship

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".