Hundreds of Americans and their allies are now stranded in Afghanistan, abandoned by the Biden administration. Yet somehow, 47-year-old Ghader Heydari was among one of the lucky ones to safely make it onto an Ethiopian Airlines charter flight for those to escaping from Afghanistan this past week before Kabul’s airport entirely shutdown.
Heydari is an example that “they are bringing far too many people in far too quickly to be able to effectively vet them” said Ken Cuccinelli, a former deputy secretary at Homeland Security in the Trump administration. Turns out Heydari is a convicted rapist who is now once again in the United States after having been previously deported.
Heydari was flagged at the Washington Dulles International Airport when he arrived on the Afghan evacuation flight. “They appear to be the first to have spotted his criminal and immigration history and derailed his entry” reports the Washington Times.
A man whose name and age match Heydari’s came to the U.S. as a refugee at some point, and was eventually issued a green card in 2000. He pleaded guilty to rape in Idaho in 2010. According to records, he served over five years in a state prison and was released on supervision in December 2015. He was then ordered to be deported by an immigration judge in 2015 and was removed in 2017.
The Washington Times reports officials tried to convince the felon to cancel his request to enter the United States, formally known as withdrawal of application for admission, but he reportedly refused. It is unknown how the man made it to the United States so seamlessly.
“It’s unlikely he holds a Special Immigrant Visa. Those were reserved for Afghans who provided significant support for the U.S. in the war effort/ It’s also not likely he is a refugee, given his immigration history” reports the Washington Times. “That leaves parole, a power the homeland security secretary has to grant admission to the U.S. in exceptional humanitarian cases. Most Afghans evacuated to the U.S. appear to be parolees rather than having official immigration status.”
