U.S. Senators Katie Britt Slams Dangerous Biden-Harris Afghan Parolee Program, Demands Reforms to Protect Americans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) attended a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration and the Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism to address the disastrous effects of the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and the subsequent Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) Parole Program. The witnesses included Craig Adelman, Deputy Inspector General for Audits at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Arne B. Baker, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Inspector General at the Department of State, and Michael J. Roark, Deputy Inspector General for Evaluations at the Department of Defense.

Senator Britt began by highlighting the national and global effects of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying, “The Biden-Harris disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan sent shockwaves not just through that region, but literally across the entire globe … I was actually on the campaign trail and there is nowhere that I visited in the state of Alabama where people didn’t have a visceral reaction to the lack of our Commander in Chief being in command … And today we’re here to get answers about what actually happened and how we can make sure that this doesn’t happen in the future …” 

The Senator continued by discussing the previous Administration’s deeply flawed OAW parole program: “DHS OIG released a report that stated that CBP admitted the following evacuees to the U.S under OAW, and it was 417 evacuees whose (first) name was totally unknown. There were 242 evacuees whose last name was unknown. 11,110 evacuees whose date of birth was January 1 … And despite this, the Biden-Harris administration and DHS did not concur with the recommendations of DHS OIG, that you all made to address it and to actually ensure it didn’t happen again.” 

“One of those recommendations was from DHS to develop a comprehensive contingency plan to adequately vet and screen all individuals during future similar emergency situations. So, do you know, Mr. Adelman, if any of the steps have been taken to ensure that … these different recommendations have … been taken and where are we on that?” Senator Britt asked the witnesses.

Mr. Adelman responded, “The department, as you noted, did not agree and has not made any progress in completing that recommendation … we have closed the second recommendation in that report on the recurrent vetting process.”

Senator Britt followed up on her question, asking the other witnesses, “Do either of you know of any, changes or structural processes that have been improved upon the failures that we have seen in the past?”

Mr. Baker responded, “…it has not. That recommendation is open.”

“Still,” Senator Britt emphasized. “After we saw the travesty that occurred a few weeks ago, the loss of life, still,” she stated, referring to the Afghan national—paroled into the U.S. through the OAW program—who killed National Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom and seriously injured National Guardsman Andrew Wolfe last month.

“I know that the Trump administration has talked about refocusing on where we are now, finding these individuals, making sure that we’re doing a better job. But based on your experience in dealing with these issues, are there any particular unresolved issues, obviously, (that) the administration can push, but that we here in Congress need to take a look at in order to be able to be better positioned in the event that this happens in the future?” Senator Britt asked.

“I think, for me, it would be just to make some progress on the recommendations, to clarify the responsibilities within the Department of Homeland Security and improve information sharing,” Mr. Adelman stated.

“… [I] the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security can implement the two remaining open recommendations, I think that that would go a long way to improving this in the future,” Mr. Roark responded.

Senator Britt concluded, “Well, let’s get to work. Let’s work together to make sure that we keep the American people safe.”

You can watch the Senator’s full remarks here.

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