Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Although the Department of State made valuable corrections in visa processing after the 2001 terrorism attacks, in recent years, too many institutional practices that prioritize visa issuance over security have become the norm.

President Trump was left with no option other than to suspend entry from highly corrupt countries in order to prevent the further importation of cultures of corruption, since effective vetting is not possible. 

More remains to be done in order to ensure that future migrants are fully vetted, that they only come from the world’s least corrupt nations, and that they fully assimilate and build up the United States.

Using the 2024 Survey of Income and Program Participation, this analysis follows the Census Bureau’s standard definition of welfare and reports use of means-tested anti-poverty programs by households headed by immigrants and the U.S.-born.

The findings show that households headed by immigrants, also called the “foreign-born”, are significantly more likely to receive benefits than households headed by the U.S.-born.

The number of Afghan immigrants in the U.S. now exceeds 230,000, having doubled between 2020 and 2024. The rapid influx has raised concerns about the economic and cultural impacts on American communities. This report analyzes those impacts using the 2024 American Community Survey and related data sets.

Senate Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration and Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism

The Biden-Harris administration evacuated over 80,000 Afghans during the summer of 2021 as U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan. The administration did not stop there: it created additional pathways for Afghans to enter the United States – ultimately bringing in more than 200,000 individuals.