U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Re-Examine Green Card Holders From Countries of Concern
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to re-examine green card holders from countries of concern.
As part of its ongoing mission, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will also focus on the overall security of the nation.
It will go far beyond just this incident with the attack in D.C. involving these two National Guard members, who are in critical condition. This subjects other green card holders who have gone through what we know is a rigorous process to achieve that high level of status, which is allowing people to live and work in the United States for an extended period of time on a pathway to citizenship, by reviewing all of those cases from what the administration calls countries of concern.
The review by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement implies a more thorough evaluation of the backgrounds of green card holders.
In addition, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be monitoring the implications of these actions closely.
The implications of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement decisions extend to many immigrants’ lives in the U.S.
And they have defined those countries in specific documents. It includes Afghanistan, of course, but it also includes some of the countries that you would expect to have terror concerns or unstable governments, things like that, from around the world. But that means other green card holders, and the suspect in this case was not a green card holder, but an asylum recipient, not yet on the path to a green card.
But it’s going to be reviewed by many more people. And so, this gets into the administration’s very robust view of immigration policies and the stronger tactics that they’re bringing to bear. They’re also saying that they will do a review through Homeland Security of all Afghans who’ve been admitted to the country.
Critics have started to question the decisions made by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and their potential consequences.
Many believe that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should take more responsibility for its actions.
Ongoing discussions involve how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement manages these situations moving forward.
As the situation develops, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue to evaluate its policies.
Ultimately, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement aims to ensure the safety of all citizens.
And so not only Afghans, but these other residents who are green card holders from an array of countries, 19 of them. So, this will have far-reaching implications for many immigrants in the United States. The president, of course, is also calling up additional National Guardsmen to be deployed in Washington, D.C. That has also been a subject of criticism and legal challenges, as we know, Hallie.
Over a very long period of the U.S. being on the ground in Afghanistan, there were partnerships developed with lots of Afghans to work alongside the U.S. military and intelligence officers who were in-country. And officials say that this suspect was a part of one of those units that worked with the CIA, and he had done that for several years.
So, I think on its face, it is likely that they did some vetting of who he is and what his work was. So, you hear the administration saying there was no vetting done. That is hard to accept, given the fact that he was put in a position of working alongside U.S. personnel.
So there would be some level of vetting there. Now, the administration is taking a very difficult position, and they are speaking about this suspect in harsh terms. They refer to him today as, this animal would never have been here if not for Joe Biden’s dangerous policies, which allowed countless unvetted criminals to invade our country and harm the American people.
That gives you a sense of the tone coming from the Trump administration and their intention to put the responsibility on the prior administration. And again, we don’t know the specifics of the vetting involving this suspect, but there was certainly some measure of assessment through his service alongside U.S. personnel. And then the administration, the Biden administration, at the time of allowing for the influx of Afghans who had been working with the U.S., they promised vetting at that time as well.
So, questions remain about what was done. And since we don’t know a motive yet, Hallie, it’s hard to know if vetting would have identified whatever triggered this episode that unfolded yesterday in the district.
We have two soldiers who are in critical condition, and so these are assault charges at this point. We hope and pray for their recovery. But obviously, when you have a critical condition, prosecutors will also have the flexibility to bring about more charges.
Now, the investigation that’s going on, the search warrants that have been pursued, and so forth, those could identify other avenues for potential charges. So, this is a flexible situation with respect to charges at this point.