Bills to Speed Resettlement of Afghan Allies Cut Corners on National Security, Fraud, and Public Health
By Dan Cadman on July 8, 2021
Dan Cadman is a Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Author's Note: As this report was going to publication, there was breaking news that the president intends to evacuate and temporarily relocate Afghan SIV applicants to several countries not yet firmly identified, as well as possibly the U.S. territory of Guam, while their applications are pending.
Such a move will not mitigate the negative impact of the bills described below. It might, in fact, add to the adverse implications because there will inevitably be significant pressure from these third countries to ensure that they are permanently resettled quickly rather than see them become a resource drain, and potentially a public safety and national security risk, to the host country.
What is more, whatever capacities the U.S. government has in-country in Afghanistan now to check out Afghan claims for vetting purposes would disappear completely.
Finally, there is also the question of using Guam as the site for temporary relocation of Afghan SIV applicants. For immigration purposes, when one enters Guam, one has entered the United States, according to 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(38). This has significant implications because individuals who have entered are vested with substantial constitutional rights not available to those outside the U.S. There are significant litigation implications to this; for instance if an alien is denied, he or she will be entitled to the full panoply of removal proceedings and appeals, as well as be in a position to sue the government to attempt to persuade a district court or appellate court judge to overturn any adverse administrative decisions. Such proceedings frequently take years to resolve.
Executive Summary
https://cis.org/Report/Bills-Speed-Resettlement-Afghan-Allies-Cut-Corners-National-Security-Fraud-and-Public-Health
