The Trump administration will be dramatically enhancing its screening of all foreign nationals with the launch of a new vetting center.
In response to a slate of high-profile arrests of Afghan men accused of committing or planning serious attacks on American soil, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is establishing a specialized unit intending to markedly upgrade the country’s vetting procedures of migrants, according to a memo exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The new vetting center will help federal officials identify terrorists, criminal aliens or other foreigners who pose a danger to the country.
“USCIS’ role in the nation’s immigration system has never been more critical,” Joe Edlow, the director of the agency, said in a public statement.
“In the wake of several recent incidents of violence, including a foreign national attacking National Guard service members on U.S. soil, establishing this vetting center will give us more enhanced capabilities to safeguard national security and ensure public safety,” Edlow continued.
The new vetting center, when fully operational, will “draw on the full spectrum” of screening capabilities and leverage state-of-the-art technology when reviewing immigration applications and petitions, according to the memo. Headquartered in Atlanta, the center will also be tasked with reviewing already-approved applications for foreign nationals and prioritizing applications from designated countries of concern.
Trump officials say the enhanced screening is necessary after four years of the Biden administration, which oversaw a historic border crisis and a chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan that sparked the importation of thousands of Afghan nationals.
“Under the Biden administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was pushed to expedite the immigration and naturalization processes with little regard for how that affected national security and the safety of our communities,” Edlow stated. “We changed that approach on day one of the Trump administration.”
“Under President Trump, we are building more protective measures that ensure fraud, deception, and threats do not breach the integrity of our immigration system,” the USCIS director continued.
The Trump White House, which has long prioritized border security, has doubled down on security efforts since Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national brought into the country in 2021 under humanitarian parole, allegedly killed one National Guard member and left another in critical condition in an ambush-style attack in Washington, D.C., hours before Thanksgiving Day.
Immediately after the attack, federal immigration officials dramatically restricted asylum applications for all foreign nationals and completely halted immigration processes for individuals hailing from 19 countries deemed to be “high-risk.” On Wednesday, USCIS announced it was scaling back the timeframe in which asylum seekers and other foreign nationals can have valid work permits in the U.S.
Including Lakanwal, three different Afghan nationals let into the country through the Biden-era Operation Allies Welcome program have been arrested within a week. The FBI arrested Mohammad Dawood Alokozay on Nov. 25 for allegedly making bomb threats in Fort Worth, Texas and Jaan Shah Safi was arrested by immigration officials on Wednesday for allegedly providing support to ISIS-K.
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