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EXCLUSIVE: The Biden administration granted nearly 7,000 waivers, mostly to refugees, for foreign nationals who might otherwise be ineligible for admission to the US due to terrorism-related entry restrictions, a significantly higher number higher than in recent years.
Fox News Digital reviewed a draft of the agency’s fiscal year 2024 report to Congress on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) secretary’s application of his power to exempt foreign nationals for reasons of inadmissibility related to terrorism (TRIG). Foreign nationals seeking entry to the United States may be considered inadmissible for entry and for immigration benefits if they have associated with, supported, or worked with terrorist organizations.
However, the Secretary of DHS may exempt certain foreign nationals from this inadmissibility, including if they have provided support under duress, if they have provided medical care, and if they meet other waiver standards.
A reporter raises his hand to ask Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas a question during a press conference Monday, July 15, 2024, at the White House in Washington, DC (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
According to the draft report, there were 6,848 TRIG exemptions in fiscal year 2024. The majority (6,653) were for refugees, but the report does not break down the number by country. The Biden administration has significantly increased the refugee cap to 125,000, a substantial increase from the 18,000 set in the last year of the Trump administration.
The number of 6,848 is significantly higher than the 2,085 exemptions issued FY 2023which in turn was higher than in previous years. According to DHS reports, 603 waivers were distributed in fiscal year 2022, 191 in fiscal year 2021, and 361 in fiscal year 2020.
In 2022, DHS announced an exemption for Afghan evacuees who worked as officials or individuals who provided “insignificant or limited material support” to a designated terrorist group. DHS said this could apply to many occupations, including teachers, doctors and engineers, and those who used their position to mitigate the Taliban crackdown. That exemption came amid a mass evacuation effort of Afghan nationals when the Taliban took control of the country in 2021.
The FY24 report said 29 waivers were provided for Afghan allies supporting US interests in Afghanistan and 374 were for officials. Meanwhile, 3,134 were for those who provided some limited support or insignificant material support to a Tier I or Tier II terrorist organization, under the 2022 exemption announced by DHS. Most of the remaining exemptions (2,946) were given under an exercise of authority in 2007 for support given under duress.
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Of those who received non-refugee waivers, 155 were for asylum seekers, 22 for green card holders and four for temporary protected status applicants.
Increase in TRIG waivers comes ahead of a Trump administration expected to significantly reduce refugee admissionswhile increasing deportations of illegal immigrants and increasing security on the southern border.
Republicans and former Trump administration officials have frequently criticized the Biden administration for expanding immigration lanes and releasing migrants inland, in part because of concerns about the potential risk of terrorism
“Joe Biden and his administration have viciously attacked parents at school board meetings, pro-life Americans, Catholics and Trump supporters, labeling some as ‘domestic terrorists,’ instead of catching terrorists real and keep them out of the country.” Michael Bars, Trump’s former deputy assistant secretary of DHS and senior White House communications adviser, told Fox News Digital. “In fact, they have been helping to threaten potential threats by waiving national security guarantees to admit individuals who have provided varying degrees of material support to Islamic terrorist organizations in extraordinary numbers.
Taliban fighters mark the third anniversary of the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)
“Islamic terrorism is not ‘homegrown’ – it has been imported into the US through our broken immigration system and open border. The Biden administration has not only failed in its duty to address this growing threat , but rather precipitated it,” he said.
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DHS did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment, but the report stresses that all applicants are subject to a thorough and “rigorous” security vetting process.
“All applicants considered for waivers were subject to a thorough and rigorous security vetting process,” the report said. “The (USCIS) procedures require that the biographic and biometric data of all applicants be analyzed against a wide range of police and intelligence community databases containing information about people known to be security threats, including terrorist watch list. In addition to a rigorous background check, the Secretary’s discretionary authority is applied only on a case-by-case basis after a careful review of all factors and after all security checks have been approved.”
“These waivers will allow eligible individuals who do not pose a risk to national security or public safety to receive asylum, refugee status, or other legal immigration status, demonstrating America’s continued commitment to our Afghan allies and their families,” said DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. he said in 2022.
The Biden administration has also previously noted the prior use of TRIG waivers, including in 2019, to apply to those involved in the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war. The USCIS website says so too that the definition of terrorist-related activity “is relatively broad and may apply to persons and activities not commonly believed to be associated with terrorism.”
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The use of TRIG waivers has been controversial with Republicans. In August 2022, a coalition of senators sounded the alarm about the 2022 exemptions, saying the exemption for those who provide negligible or limited support they could afford was written in a way that is not limited to just Afghans.
“Indeed, it is not limited to certain conflicts, terrorist organizations, geographic regions or time periods at all,” they said.
