Image of an Afghan translator with American forces in Afghanistan/archive photo

The US Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday scrutinised the Biden administration`s Afghan parole program, as Republican lawmakers warned of national security risks while government watchdogs detailed systemic failures in vetting and oversight, and refugee advocates defended the resettlement of Afghan allies.

The hearing followed a recent shooting that killed US National Guardswoman Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounded another guardsman, an attack lawmakers cited as intensifying concerns over screening of Afghans evacuated after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said the Afghan parole program had become "a Trojan horse with flawed vetting and deadly consequences," arguing that parole authority was used too broadly under Operation Allies Welcome, which brought more than 76,000 Afghans to the United States.

Grassley said the Biden administration failed to enforce immigration laws and granted parole on a mass basis, including to individuals who did not serve alongside US forces. He said US agencies lacked complete intelligence records to properly vet applicants and cited inspectors general reports documenting vulnerabilities.

Watchdog officials testifying before the committee said their oversight work had identified deep structural weaknesses.

Arne Baker, a senior official performing the duties of inspector general at the US State Department, said the department`s watchdog issued 11 reports between 2017 and 2024 with 38 recommendations addressing management and oversight problems related to the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programme and evacuee processing.

"Our work before, during and after the evacuation revealed systemic challenges in visa processing, data coordination and interagency accountability," Baker said, adding that sustained reforms were needed to protect national security while honouring commitments to Afghan allies.

At the Department of Homeland Security, Deputy Inspector General Craig Adelman said audits found fragmented leadership, inconsistent vetting procedures, poor data quality and a lack of mechanisms to track parole expiration.

He said DHS had not agreed to several key recommendations, including establishing recurring vetting for parolees, designating a component to track parole expiration, and creating contingency plans for future humanitarian crises.

"If fully implemented, these reforms would replace an ad hoc, reactive model with a disciplined, crisis-ready framework," Adelman said.

Democratic lawmakers acknowledged shortcomings in the evacuation but said Kabul`s rapid collapse created extraordinary conditions.

In a joint statement submitted to the committee, Refugees International and the Afghan American Foundation rejected claims that Afghan evacuees were poorly vetted, saying screening under Operation Allies Welcome was rigorous and multilayered.

The groups said Afghans were evacuated because they faced acute risk of Taliban reprisals, including women leaders, journalists, interpreters and former security personnel.

"For two decades, Afghans stood with the US mission believing it offered a path away from repression and extremism," the statement said, noting that many evacuees have integrated into US communities as workers, business owners and professionals.

The organisations warned that current policies were leaving thousands of Afghans in legal limbo, including those with pending asylum cases or parole status under review, and risked returning vulnerable people to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

They cited cases of Afghan women, former police officers and US military interpreters now facing possible detention or deportation, despite having entered the United States legally.

The hearing also highlighted worsening conditions in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power, including sweeping restrictions on women and girls and a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by cuts to international aid.

Grassley said he has reintroduced legislation to reform immigration parole authority, arguing Congress must address what he called executive branch abuses rather than expand parole or visa pathways without tighter controls.

Nadim Yousify, a former US Marine and Afghan interpreter who testified at the hearing, urged lawmakers to distinguish individual criminal acts from the broader Afghan evacuee population.

He said accountability for wrongdoing must be firm but applied on a case-by-case basis, warning that collective blame risks undermining trust built during two decades of war. Afghan allies, he said, saved American lives by providing intelligence, translating threats and standing alongside U.S. forces under fire.

Yousify said how the United States treats Afghan allies today will shape whether local partners are willing to support US troops in future conflicts. "Security and compassion are not opposites," he said, adding that strong vetting and moral responsibility must coexist. "America is safest when it keeps both its borders and its word."

The hearing came as the US State Department this week announced it has temporarily paused the processing of immigrant visa applications for nationals of 75 countries, including Afghanistan, a move that has heightened uncertainty for Afghans awaiting relocation to the United States. The department has not publicly provided details on how long the pause will last or how many Afghan cases could be affected.

Advocates say the suspension risks compounding delays in pathways such as the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program and other immigration channels at a time when many Afghan migrants remain stranded in third countries. They argue that prolonged processing backlogs could leave vulnerable applicants exposed to detention, deportation or other protection risks while they wait for decisions.