logo

Did nearly 100,000 people in the Afghanistan evacuation come to the US unvetted?

By Tom Kertscher
NO

Following the evacuation of Afghanistan that began in summer 2021, more than 76,000 Afghans came to the U.S. after being vetted, The Wall Street Journal reported.

All evacuees were brought to a military base in Europe or the Middle East, where U.S. officials collected fingerprints and biographical details, and ran them through criminal and terrorism-related databases, the Journal reported.

In reviews, the Defense and Homeland Security departments found that not all evacuees were fully vetted.

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who represents most of northern Wisconsin, said in an Oct. 16, 2023, interview that in the evacuation, “we had nearly 100,000 people come here to America. None of them were vetted.”

Tiffany made the claim in advocating a bill he introduced Oct. 13 in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The legislation would prohibit anyone with a passport issued by the Palestinian Authority from entering the U.S.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
FACT BRIEF BY
facebook
twitter
email
email