Female US Soldier Assaulted By Male Afghan Refugees At Fort Bliss As GOP Demands Info On Biden’s Vetting Process
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has confirmed they are investigating an assault by male Afghan refugees on a female US service member. “We received the referral from Fort Bliss and our office is investigating the allegation,” FBI Public Affairs Officer Special Agent Jeanette Harper said.
“We can confirm a female service member supporting Operation Allies Welcome reported being assaulted on Sept. 19 by a small group of male evacuees at the Doña Ana Complex in New Mexico,” the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss Public Affairs said.
“We take the allegation seriously and appropriately referred the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The safety and well-being of our service members, as well as all of those on our installations, is paramount.”
“Task Force-Bliss is also implementing additional security measures to include increased health and safety patrols, additional lighting, and enforcement of the buddy system at the Dona Ana Complex,” the statement added. “We will cooperate fully with the FBI and will continue to ensure the service member reporting this assault is fully supported.”
Rep. Yvette Herrell, a Republican congresswoman who represents New Mexico’s 2nd congressional district ripped Biden for a vetting failure.
“My prayers are with the courageous soldier and her family. This is yet another tragic failure in the vetting process for Afghan nationals,” Herrell said. “The American people deserve answers.”
Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford and four other Republican senators sent a letter to Biden demanding information on the way Afghan refugees are being vetted. The letter said:
“Regarding Afghan nationals who have been resettled in the United States, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memorandum on August 23, 2021 instructing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to ‘parole certain Afghan nationals into the United States.
“This memo explicitly notes that ‘some of these individuals were in various stages of processing for immigration status in the United States…but were not able to complete these processes because of the certain situation in Afghanistan.
“While the Biden Administration has stated in briefings and in fact sheets that Afghan parolees undergo ‘biometric and biographic screening,’ the Biden Administration has yet to provide my staff, members of Congress, or the public with basic answers about its vetting procedures for Afghan parolees or demographic information about the Afghan parolee population.
“How many Afghan nationals are waiting on background checks at a transit site? How many Afghan nationals have been paroled into the United States?
“What specific categories, classes, or criteria constitute the Administration’s definition of “vulnerable Afghans”? How many individuals who have been paroled into the United States fall under each category, class, or criteria?
“Within that $6.4 billion request, OMB asks Congress to enact legislation that would allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to adjust the status of Afghan parolees and, on a case-by-case basis, ‘waive any applicable provision of Section 212 of the [Immigration and Nationality Act],’” the letter said.
“Your request to waive these grounds of inadmissibility raises significant questions about the Biden Administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal.”
My prayers are with the courageous soldier and her family. This is yet another tragic failure in the vetting process for Afghan nationals. The American people deserve answers.https://t.co/UB8ehTjCwO
— Rep. Yvette Herrell (@RepHerrell) September 24, 2021