Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), talking with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, stressed a gap between the 60,000 people who have been taken into the U.S. and the total number evacuated.
“We don't know where they're going, who they are, whether they're coming here or not. We don't know the breakdown of refugees and parolees. We don't know the breakdown of SIVs — special immigrant visas — and what are called partial SIV immigrant visas or folks that were American citizens and green card holders. There's some very basic pieces of information that we keep trying to be able to get,” Lankford said.
“None of those should be unrealistic questions. Those all should be data points that should be coming to you,” he continued.
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Mayorkas did suggest some people during the hearing, saying that roughly 12,000 Afghans stay at different military sites while they await vetting to enter the U.S.
He also directed to previously published numbers from the administration, noting that of the 60,000 Afghans who have entered the U.S., nearly 8,000 are either U.S. citizens or residents, while about 1,800 are SIV holders, having obtained visas after assisting the U.S. military.
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But he did not present numbers for how many fit into the Priority 1 and Priority 2 categories designed for vulnerable Afghans and others who served in a range of U.S. projects.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee ranking member Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said the U.S. left allies behind and that Homeland Security has stayed too heavily on “paroling” people into the country, a process that allows it to temporarily waive immigration requirements to allow people to enter the U.S. and begin the work to gain status.
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“Around 75 percent of the people who came are called parolees, meaning they don't fit in any of those categories,” he said. “Does that concern you?”
“We all know that we left American citizens behind, but mostly we left behind people who had helped us. But we also had people get on these flights to leave who, as far as we know at this point, had no connection to us in the sense of helping us or helping our allies,” Portman added later.
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Mayorkas went against Portman’s claim, calling that group a mix of those who are still having their SIVs processed or who likely are fit for the Priority 1 or Priority 2 programs.
“We have individuals who have been employed or locally in Afghanistan by a unit, the United States, who have assisted us in Afghanistan. ... It's a very mixed population, and we screen and vet that remaining group, as we screen and vet all,” he said.
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