Third Afghan released into US under Biden program arrested

Federal law enforcement officials on Wednesday arrested yet another Afghan evacuee for allegedly supporting a terrorist group.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents apprehended Jaan Shah Safi in Waynesboro, Va., on suspicion of providing support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan (ISIS-K), according to the Department of Homeland Security. Safi’s arrest makes him the third Afghan national originally brought into the U.S. by a Biden-era evacuation program to be taken into custody in a week.

“Today, our heroic ICE officers arrested Jaan Shah Safi, a terrorist who provided material support to ISIS-K,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a public statement. “The Biden administration brought this terrorist into the U.S. under the disastrous Operation Allies Welcome program.”

“This terrorist was arrested miles from our nation’s capital, where our brave National Guard heroes, Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe, were shot just days ago by another unvetted Afghan terrorist brought into our country,” Noem said.

Safi entered the U.S. on September 8, 2021, in Philadelphia, Pa., under Operation Allies Welcome, according to DHS. He applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which would’ve largely protected him from deportation, but his application was ultimately terminated when Noem scrapped TPS for Afghan nationals earlier this year.

In addition to allegedly providing support to ISIS-K, Safi is also accused of providing weapons to his father, who serves as a commander of an Afghan militia group, according to DHS.

On Nov. 26, Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly opened fire at two National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., ultimately killing West Virginia Army National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and leaving Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe in critical condition. One day prior to the D.C. shooting, Mohammad Dawood Alokozay was arrested by the FBI and local authorities for allegedly making bomb threats in Fort Worth, Texas.

Like Safi, Lakanwal, and Alokozay were paroled into the U.S. via Operation Allies Welcome, according to federal officials. In total, the Biden administration admitted nearly 190,000 Afghan nationals into the U.S. during its chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan, many of whom the Trump administration says were not properly vetted.

“The Biden administration created one of the worst national security crises in American history,” Noem said Wednesday. “Biden let into our country nearly 190,000 unvetted Afghan aliens — only determining who they were and their intentions when they were already on American soil.”

“President Trump has been working every day since January 20 to clean up this unmitigated national security crisis,” Noem said.

Since the National Guard shooting, the Trump administration has dramatically restricted asylum applications for all foreign nationals and completely halted immigration processes for individuals hailing from 19 countries deemed “high-risk.” Trump, in late November, also expressed support for ending immigration from Third World countries.

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