40% Error Rate: DHS Audit Finds Afghan Evacuee Vetting Files Riddled with Mistakes
September 30, 2026 · Frisian News
A DHS Office of Inspector General audit found processing errors in 40 percent of a random sample of asylum files for Afghan evacuees resettled under Operation Allies Welcome. The inspector general said USCIS may have missed opportunities to identify derogatory information on applicants.
Forty percent of a random sample of asylum files for Afghan evacuees contained at least one processing error, a DHS Office of Inspector General audit released September 23, 2026 found. Investigators drew 678 files at random from 13,682 adjudicated applications filed by Afghans who entered the United States through Operation Allies Welcome, the resettlement program created after the 2021 withdrawal. They found errors in 269 of those files.
The OIG audit identified 303 missed aliases across 169 files, 23 missing security checks, 45 cases where potential matches were left unresolved, and 115 other documentation problems. The inspector general concluded that the pattern "suggest U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may have missed opportunities to potentially link names provided by applicants to derogatory information."
Two files involved individuals potentially inadmissible on terrorism-related grounds. In one, required paperwork was absent from the file, preventing a second-level authority from approving the analysis. In the other, the paperwork was present and signed by senior officials, but the box indicating whether the analysis was approved or rejected was left blank. The inspector general did not determine whether either error resulted in an actual security threat.
USCIS director Joseph Edlow agreed with all five of the inspector general's recommendations. He argued that the errors occurred alongside established screening and security checks that minimize their impact, and called the agency's vetting procedures "well-established and thorough." The 40 percent error rate appeared in the same report.
The audit opened after USCIS employees told the inspector general that a September 2023 court settlement in Ahmed v. DHS, which required the agency to decide 90 percent of OAW asylum applications within 150 days, was forcing officers to rush vetting. The inspector general found no statistically significant increase in the error rate after the settlement took effect. Errors per file were 0.718 before the settlement and 0.716 after it, and the share of files with any error fell from 41 percent to 38 percent, according to a review of the audit by AfghanEvac.org.
This is the third DHS OIG report on Operation Allies Welcome screening. A September 2022 report found that some evacuees were admitted without full vetting checks. A May 2024 report described a fragmented process for resolving derogatory information on OAW parolees. The 2026 audit covers only the asylum adjudication stage inside the United States.
Operation Allies Welcome brought more than 70,000 Afghans to the United States after the 2021 withdrawal, according to AOL News. Reporting by The Post, cited by AOL News, said in November 2025 that more than 5,000 of those arrivals had been flagged for national security concerns. That same month, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national resettled through the program, allegedly shot two National Guard soldiers near the White House, killing one and severely injuring the other.
USCIS told the inspector general that its own quality assurance reviews had "unequivocally determined that any missed aliases did not impact the adjudicative outcome of any case" in its study period samples, according to the AfghanEvac.org analysis of the report. The inspector general did not dispute that finding but did not independently re-run the missed name variants to verify it.
FryskFjirtich prosint fan in tafallige stekproef fan asyldossiers fan Afghaanske evakuees befette op syn minst ien ferwurkingsflater, sa blykt út in kontrôle fan it DHS Office of Inspector General, publisearre op 23 septimber 2026. Ûndersykers selektearren 678 dossiers op goed gelok út 13.682 beoardiele oanfragen fan Afghanen dy't de Feriene Steaten binnenkamen fia Operation Allies Welcome, it opfangprogramma dat oprjochte waard nei de weromtrekling fan 2021. Sy fûnen flaters yn 269 fan dy dossiers.
De OIG-kontrôle identifisearre 303 miste aliases yn 169 dossiers, 23 ûntbrekkende feiligenskontrôles, 45 gefallen wêr't mooglike oerienkomsten net oplost wienen, en 115 oare dokumintaasjeproblèmen. De inspekteur-generaal konkludearre dat it patroan 'suggerearret dat it U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services mooglik kânsen mist hat om nammen fan oanfragers te keppeljen oan beswierlike ynformaasje.'
Twa dossiers hienen betrekking op persoanen dy't mooglik net talitten wurde kinne op grûnen yn ferbân mei terrorisme. Yn it iene dossier ûntbreaken ferplichte dokuminten, wêrtroch in autoriteit fan it twadde nivo de analyze net goedkarre koe. Yn it oare wienen de dokuminten oanwêzich en tekene troch hege amtners, mar it fakje dat oanjaan moast oft de analyze goedkard of ôfwiisd wie, wie leech litten. De inspekteur-generaal stelde net fêst oft ien fan beide flaters resultearre hat yn in werklike feiligensbedriiging.
USCIS-direkteur Joseph Edlow stimde yn mei alle fiif oanbefellings fan de inspekteur-generaal. Hy stelde dat de flaters optreden wienen neist fêststelde skrinning- en feiligenskontrôles dy't de ynfloed dêrfan minimalisearje, en neamde de skrinningsprosedures fan it buro 'goed fêststeld en yngeand.' De 40 prosint flaterrate stie yn itselde rapport.
De kontrôle begûn neidat USCIS-meiwurkers de inspekteur-generaal fertelden dat in rjochterlike skikking út septimber 2023 yn Ahmed v. DHS, dy't it buro ferplichte om 90 prosint fan de OAW-asylaanfragen binnen 150 dagen te beslissen, offisieren twong om de skrining te hastjen. De inspekteur-generaal fûn gjin statistysk signifikante tanimming fan de flaterrate nei't de skikking fan krêft waard. De flaters per dossier wienen 0,718 foar de skikking en 0,716 dernei, en it oandiel dossiers mei in flater daalde fan 41 prosint nei 38 prosint, neffens in beoardieling fan de kontrôle troch AfghanEvac.org.
Dit is it tredde DHS OIG-rapport oer de skrining fan Operation Allies Welcome. In rapport fan septimber 2022 fûn dat guon evakuees sûnder folsleine skrinningskontrôles ta litten wienen. In rapport fan maaie 2024 beskriuwde in fragmintearre proses foar it oplosse fan beswierlike ynformaasje oer OAW-paroleeholders. De kontrôle fan 2026 dekt allinne de faze fan asylbeoardieling binnen de Feriene Steaten.
Operation Allies Welcome brocht mear as 70.000 Afghanen nei de Feriene Steaten nei de weromtrekling fan 2021, neffens AOL News. Berjochten fan The Post, oanhelle troch AOL News, seinen yn novimber 2025 dat mear as 5.000 fan dy oankommen persoanen markearre wienen fanwegen nasjonale feiligenssoargen. Yn deselde moanne soe Rahmanullah Lakanwal, in Afghaansk boarger dy't fia it programma opnommen wie, twa National Guard-soldaten by it Wite Hûs beskeaten hawwe, wêrby ien de dea fûn en de oare slim ferwûne waard.
USCIS fertelde de inspekteur-generaal dat syn eigen kwaliteitsbeoardielings 'ûndúbelsinnich fêststeld hienen dat miste aliases de beoardielingsútkomst fan gjin inkeld gefal beynfloede hawwe' yn de stekproeven fan de stúdzjeperioade, neffens de analyze fan it rapport troch AfghanEvac.org. De inspekteur-generaal betwiste dy befinning net, mar ferrûn de miste namfarianten net op 'e nij om dat ûnôfhinklik te ferifiearjen.
Published September 30, 2026 · Frisian News