Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Department of State Secretary Antony Blinken and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after both departments announced they would dispense with in-person interviews during the vetting process for roughly 49,000 immigrant visa applicants, and eliminate altogether the interview requirement for spouses and children of refugees seeking citizenship.
Sen. Hawley is demanding that the departments rescind the new policies, and also called out the Biden Administration for normalizing its historic failures in the Afghanistan withdrawal — including its failure to implement standard in-person vetting of more than 80,000 Afghan refugees.
Senator Hawley writes, "The first and highest priority of our immigration system is homeland security. It is paramount that we ensure that everyone who enters our country does not pose a threat to public safety. But it appears that the Biden Administration is now doubling down on its failed attempt to adequately vet those evacuated from Afghanistan. These new policies are a transparent ploy to normalize that failed vetting process."
You can read the full letter HERE and below:
January 5, 2022
The Honorable Antony Blinken Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20520
The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security 301 7th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20528
Secretary Blinken and Secretary Mayorkas,
I write with grave concern over the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security’s unjustifiable decision to dispense with in-person interviews for those wishing to immigrate to our country. These policies are dangerous and transparent attempts to normalize the Biden Administration’s historic failures during the evacuation from Afghanistan. They should be rescinded immediately.
President Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was one of the worst military fiascos in modern history. On August 26, 2021, thirteen American servicemembers were killed by an explosion at Kabul airport, and hundreds of civilians were injured. During the haphazard airlift, the Biden Administration evacuated over 80,000 individuals from Afghanistan. But we now know that the Biden Administration failed to adequately vet those brought to the United States.
Our nation’s immigration policies have generally required that immigrants undergo an in-person interview so that government officials can review immigrants’ documents and evaluate the truthfulness of their claims. Indeed, the 9/11 Commission’s report emphasized that several would-be terrorists were thwarted by the in-person interview process. For example, “One potential hijacker was turned back by an immigration inspector as he tried to enter the United States. The inspector relied on intuitive experience to ask questions more than he relied on any objective factor that could be detected by ‘scores’ or a machine. Good people who have worked in such jobs for a long time understand this phenomenon well.”1 Examples like this illustrate the critical role that in-person interviews play in our immigration programs.
Yet last month, the Department of State announced that it will temporarily waive the interview requirement for roughly 49,000 immigrant visa applications.2 Under this temporary rule, consular officers will have "discretion to allow this subset of immigrant visa applicants to affirm the accuracy of the contents of their application without appearing in person before a consular officer."
Also last month, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it is waiving the interview requirement for certain spouses and children. Remarkably, Biden Administration officials have indicated that they now believe the in-person interview requirement is "inconsistent" with President Biden’s executive orders calling for a more inclusive immigration system.
The first and highest priority of our immigration system is homeland security. It is paramount that we ensure that everyone who enters our country does not pose a threat to public safety. But it appears that the Biden Administration is now doubling down on its failed attempt to adequately vet those evacuated from Afghanistan. These new policies are a transparent ploy to normalize that failed vetting process.
I therefore call on you to immediately rescind these misguided policies and ensure that everyone who enters this country has been adequately vetted.
Sincerely,
Josh Hawley
United States Senator