Blinken says Biden admin will get around to vetting Afghan refugees ‘on the back end’
September 7, 2021 | Jon Dougherty
As American citizens and their families remain stranded in Afghanistan, the Biden administration has announced that it will eventually get around to vetting the tens of thousands of refugees who were instead evacuated from that war-torn country.
Speaking to reporters in Qatar, Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared to admit that President Joe Biden’s focus was not entirely on getting Americans out ahead of a full Taliban takeover when he said that the administration instead concentrated “on getting as many individuals out of Kabul” first before returning to “focus on a vetting process,” Fox News reported.
“In our effort to get as many people out as fast as we can while we had the airport functioning, we focused on doing just that,” Blinken said.
He added that officials within the State Department are “doing accountings on the back end as people arrive in the United States,” while also suggesting that the administration still does not know how many refugees were evacuated.
“My expectation is we will have a breakdown of the numbers of people who left Afghanistan, including not just American citizens, but green card holders, SIV applicants, SIV visa holders, Afghans at risk, those eligible for P-1 and P-2 visas,” Blinken continued.
“All of that will be forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead as we’re able to break down the numbers,” he added.
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https://www.bizpacreview.com/2021/09/07/blinken-says-biden-admin-will-get-around-to-vetting-afghan-refugees-on-the-back-end-1130878/
