WASHINGTON, D.C. — This evening, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN), and Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX), issued the following statement following the arrest of an Afghan national in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi has been charged by the Department of Justice with plotting an Election Day terrorist attack in the United States on behalf of ISIS. According to court documents, he entered the United States just days after the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, and currently has parole status.

“When tens of thousands of insufficiently vetted individuals are let into the interior, this is the inevitable result. This Committee has repeatedly warned of the terror threats stemming from the Biden-Harris administration’s failed leadership and disastrous border security policies. Unfortunately, our calls for transparency regarding the inadequate vetting and screening following the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan continue to go unanswered—and, here, Americans almost paid the price. We appreciate the efforts of law enforcement in thwarting this alleged terror plot on Election Day, but President Biden and Vice President Harris must reverse course on their misguided policies and put the safety and security of the American people first.”

Background:

In May 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report indicating that DHS has a fragmented process of vetting and identifying derogatory information Afghan parolees for Operation Allies Welcome, and no plan in place to remove the roughly 77,000 Afghans paroled into the country as part of Operation Allies Welcome.

In October 2023, Chairman Green issued a subpoena to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for documents and information on the vetting and screening of Afghan evacuees entering the United States since 2021. This subpoena followed months of failure by Secretary Mayorkas to provide documents and materials satisfactory to the Committee’s initial May 2023 request. In a letter to Secretary Mayorkas pursuant to the subpoena, Chairman Green wrote of the non-responsive documents the department had provided: 

“While the produced documents provide some basic information regarding Afghan evacuees, they fall well short of what was requested by the Committee. For example, the Department failed to produce a single e-mail or other communication from Department employees related to the withdrawal from Afghanistan or Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) screening, vetting, or inspection of Afghan evacuees at U.S. Ports of Entry.” 

In April 2023, the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, led by Chairman Pfluger, heard firsthand testimony from national security experts on the dangerous consequences to U.S. homeland security from the Biden administration’s deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

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