The Biden administration failed to adequately vet the Afghan refugees fleeing the region in the wake of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal, with U.S officials encountering 55 Afghan evacuees on the terrorist screening database, a government watchdog found.

Of the 55 suspected terrorists, at least 21 were put on the terrorist database after entering the U.S. and two were already on it prior to getting into the U.S., according to a newly released report from the Justice Department’s inspector general. Twenty-six were on the watchlist before the Biden administration launched its program to resettle Afghan refugees following its botched withdrawal.

“Our review of the [Terrorist Screening Center’s] screening data indicated that the TSC identified 55 Afghan evacuees, as of May 2023, who were either already on the terrorist watchlist but still made it to a U.S. port of entry as part of the evacuation or were added to the watchlist during the evacuation and resettlement in the United States,” the report reads.

The inspector general determined that the FBI followed all appropriate internal processes and notified the necessary agencies in each of the cases. Nine of the evacuees remain on the terror watchlist and 46 were removed once the FBI decided they no longer posed a threat to the U.S.

“I’ve sounded the alarm about the need to thoroughly vet Afghan evacuee applicants since August 2021. The Biden-Harris administration, my Democrat colleagues in Congress and many in the media were quick to dismiss glaring red flags that a nonpartisan national security analysis now confirms,” said Senator Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Grassley previously raised concerns about the Biden administration’s vetting procedures and conducted congressional oversight of its program for Afghan refugees.

While the inspector general was crafting the report, the Justice Department charged an Afghan evacuee, Nasir Ahmed Tawhedi, with plotting an Election Day terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS. Tawhedi entered the U.S. in September 2021 after the messy U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan left the country under Taliban control.

Tawhedi attempted to acquire firearms and ammunition to conduct the terrorist attack and allegedly took steps to liquidate his family’s assets and relocate his family, according to a criminal complaint.

The inspector general report has an appendix featuring more information about the 55 individuals, but only part of it was released to the public because of classified and law enforcement sensitive information.

The appendix shows four full investigations into suspected terrorists remained open and seven were closed as of July 2024. One of the four investigations was also in the process of being closed. Thirty-one assessments and four preliminary investigations were also closed.

Eight of the nine evacuees on the terror watchlist remain in the U.S. Four of them are on the watchlist because of known associations with known or suspected terrorists.