A Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report has found a 40% error rate in the adjudication of asylum claims under Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden-era program to admit Afghan refugees, DHS said.
Operation Allies Welcome was established under the Biden Administration by the Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022, which required U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to interview an OAW asylum applicant within 45 days of filing, with no exceptions. In April 2023, plaintiffs sued Biden's DHS in Ahmed vs. DHS, and the case was settled in September 2023. Under the settlement, DHS ordered USCIS to adjudicate 90% of OAW asylum applications within 150 days.
After USCIS employees complained the rushed timeline would hinder comprehensive review of each application, the OIG evaluated the process from March 2024 to January 2025. It determined there was a 40% error rate in OAW asylum files, with USCIS missing opportunities to potentially link alias names provided by applicants to information that could have made them ineligible for asylum.
"Our asylum system should be as strict as possible. If even one dangerous criminal or terrorist slips through and enters our country, it endangers countless American lives," said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. "The Biden Administration dangerously mismanaged the Operation Allies Welcome program, disregarding all the thorough and well-established procedures of our asylum system and putting our nation at risk. Unlike the Biden Administration, the Trump Administration is putting the American people first and bringing an end to these reckless and rushed asylum practices."
DHS said OAW resulted in many criminal aliens being released into the country under the Biden Administration, including people convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor, sexual battery, hit-and-run, drug possession and kidnapping. In November 2025, DHS said it assisted the FBI in arresting an Afghan national who entered under OAW and was federally charged with threatening to kill Americans; in December 2025, ICE arrested a member of ISIS-K who was allowed to enter under OAW.