DHS to re-vet all refugees Biden admitted to the U.S.

The Trump administration is planning to re-vet hundreds of thousands of refugees allowed into the U.S. during the Biden administration, drawing a fierce rebuke from immigration groups who call it an insult to people who are escaping horrors.

The Department of Homeland Security says the recheck is necessary because of how lax the Biden administration was with immigration checks in general. The department said its predecessors prioritized numbers over safety.

“This reckless approach undermined the integrity of our immigration system and jeopardized the safety and security of the American people,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Corrective action is now being taken to ensure those who are present in the United States deserve to be here.”

More than 230,000 refugees were resettled between Jan. 20, 2021, and Feb. 20, 2025 — the cutoff date according to a memo obtained by Reuters laying out the policy.

All refugees admitted under the Biden administration who are currently seeking to gain permanent legal status, or a green card, are also having their applications halted.

The memo said anyone found, during the recheck, not to have met the original refugee standards will have their status revoked.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services also said it might check others who fall outside the Biden window.

The effort drew denunciations from immigration groups who said it would put refugees through fresh pain.

“This policy would needlessly retraumatize refugees who have survived unimaginable horrors, have waited decades in some cases for resettlement, and have just begun to rebuild their lives in the United States, creating bonds with local communities, workplaces and faith groups,” said Kelly Razzouk, a vice president at the International Rescue Committee.

Church World Service, another refugee resettlement group, called the revetting “dystopian in nature, useless in practice, and cruel at heart.”

Refugees are those living outside the U.S. who seek protection from political persecution. They are similar to asylum-seekers, who are those seeking protection while already on American soil.

To backers, refugees are the most vetted migrants that arrive here. They have to prove that they are fleeing actual persecution based on their religion, political beliefs or some other distinct social class, and they have to pass screening for security threats.

But the program has had some major stumbles.

Abdulrahman Mohammed Hafedh Alqaysi, a one-time refugee from Iraq, was sentenced last month to 12 years in prison for providing material support to terrorists.

Another Iraqi, Aws Muwafaq Abduljabbar, ran an operation to steal files of hundreds of refugee applicants.

Initially, investigators feared he was stealing the files to find targets for anti-American forces to retaliate against those who aided the U.S. war effort. But prosecutors concluded his motivation was chiefly financial: He was using the stolen files to help coach refugee applicants on how to shape or fabricate stories likely to tug at the heartstrings of the U.S. officers who decide refugee status.

That scam brought a special refugee program for Iraqis who aided the U.S. war effort to a halt for months as authorities attempted to figure out how bad a breach Mr. Abduljabbar had orchestrated.