A new report claims that the Biden-Harris administration gave almost 7,000 exceptions in Fiscal Year 2024 to refugees and foreign nationals who would typically be ineligible for entry into the United States under terrorism-related entry restrictions.
Fox News reported that a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report on DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ authorization of exceptions for foreign nationals from terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds (TRIG) showed that the DHS secretary exempted 6,848 foreign nationals in Fiscal Year 2024.
According to Fox News, foreign nationals seeking admission to the United States are often prevented from entering the United States and receiving immigration benefits if they have supported, worked with, or been associated with terrorist organizations. However, the DHS secretary is authorized to exempt foreign nationals from the policy if they meet certain standards.
The draft of the DHS report obtained by Fox News showed that 6,653 of the exemptions were given to refugees. While the report does not indicate how many refugees were granted exemptions from each country, Fox News noted that the Biden-Harris administration announced an exemption for Afghan evacuees who either provided “insignificant or certain limited material support” or worked as civil servants for terrorist organizations following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The DHS report noted that 3,134 of the exemptions were provided for individuals who provided “insignificant or certain limited material support” to Tier I or Tier II terrorist organizations, while 2,946 exemptions were provided for individuals who provided support under duress to terrorist organizations.
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According to Fox News, the DHS report emphasized that “all applicants considered for exemptions were subject to a thorough and rigorous security vetting process.” The report noted, “In addition to rigorous background vetting, the Secretary’s discretionary authority is applied only on a case-by case basis after careful review of all factors and after all security checks have cleared.”
The Biden-Harris administration’s unprecedented expansion of immigration and refugee admissions has been met with criticism from President-elect Donald Trump and other Republican leaders.
Michael Bars, who formerly served as a deputy assistant secretary and White House senior communications adviser under the Trump administration, told Fox News that the Biden-Harris administration has “viciously targeted” American citizens instead of “catching actual terrorists and keeping them out of the country.”
“In fact they’ve been helping potential threats move in, waiving national security safeguards to admit individuals who’ve provided varying degrees of material support to Islamic terrorist organizations in extraordinary numbers,” Bars added. “Islamic terrorism is not ‘homegrown’—it’s been imported to the U.S. through our broken immigration system and open border. The Biden administration has not only failed its duty to address this rising threat, but precipitated it.”