McCaul seeks details on lack of U.S. immigration processing for Afghans

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) is concerned that Biden administration policies related to the Emirates Humanitarian City (EHC) are endangering America’s Afghan allies, who have been waiting for two and a half years at EHC for the United States to complete their immigration processing.

The Afghans at EHC have been “… unable to restart their lives while waiting on U.S. processing,” wrote Rep. McCaul in a Jan. 18 letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “No other processing platform for those evacuated during and after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has seen such long wait times.”

Following the administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of Afghans were evacuated to locations around the world where the U.S. could vet and process eligible applicants for resettlement in the U.S., according to Rep. McCaul’s letter.

One location, the EHC in the United Arab Emirates, received thousands of Afghans during and immediately following the U.S. withdrawal, many of whom still await U.S. vetting and processing for resettlement.

Rep. McCaul, chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, pointed out that the committee recently learned about several Afghans at EHC who were denied resettlement to the U.S. as a result of the administration’s “unique discretionary denial policy” at EHC, which he said prioritizes rapid denials, rather than fulsome vetting. 

“Our Afghan allies deserve better, and it is imperative that we surge the necessary vetting resources to EHC immediately,” he wrote.

The chairman requested that the secretaries respond to requests for communications, documentation, and correspondence regarding several topics, including why the administration has refused to provide additional vetting resources to EHC; the number of Afghans who have left EHC and returned to Afghanistan; and all known instances of Taliban reprisal attacks against Afghans who have returned to their homeland from EHC, among others. Rep. McCaul requested their responses by Feb. 18.

“As a direct result of the slow pace of processing at EHC and the unique discretionary denial policy, several Afghans who were at EHC have elected to return to Afghanistan, and some have subsequently been attacked by the Taliban,” wrote Rep. McCaul. “The administration’s malpractice has once again placed Afghans in harm’s way.”