最近几周，我们观察到令人痛心的图像绝望的阿富汗男女老少试图逃离塔利班的统治。20年来，美国一直承诺:如果你帮助我们击败基地组织和塔利班，那么我们将确保你和你的家人免受报复。如果在阿富汗做不到这一点，我们将在美国为你提供庇护。
现在，这些冒着生命危险支持我们打击恐怖主义的男男女女，加上数百万在过去20年日益增加的自由中蓬勃发展的阿富汗人----妇女、记者、基督徒和其他非穆斯林信仰的阿富汗人----面临着巨大的挑战暴力压迫或死亡的风险。
美国疏散尽可能多的人是正确的。我们应该在没有期限的情况下这样做。美国应该留下来直到我们完成工作撤离所有与我们并肩作战的美国公民和阿富汗人，以及尽可能多的担心自己生命安全的其他阿富汗人。
最伟大的一代人在第二次世界大战期间亲身经历了战争的人类代价，在他们树立的榜样的鼓舞下，我国通过为战争、压迫、种族灭绝和自然灾害的受害者提供安全避难所，成为自由和机会的全球灯塔。我们应该拯救我们的盟友，为那些濒临灭绝的人提供庇护，因为这是人道和公正的做法，符合我们国家的原则，即所有男人和女人都“被他们的创造者赋予某些不可剥夺的权利”，包括生命和自由。
不，我们不能干涉世界上的每一个不公正。虽然我们的国家很伟大，但我们是人类，不是上帝，我们的资源、时间、知识和能力都是有限的。但是，我们确实有道义责任从大规模暴行和种族灭绝中拯救我们所能拯救的人。
此外，未能保护我们的盟友可能会在未来产生国家安全影响。我在国家安全和移民委员会的同事争论过不履行我们的承诺可能会使我们的军人处于危险之中，使他们在未来的冲突任务中更难结成新的联盟。正如我以前写过的，健全的难民项目加强国家安全。
幸运的是，全国的民主党和共和党州长都在加紧行动。从加州到南卡罗来纳州，各州领导人都在口头上支持美国疏散阿富汗人的努力，并提供他们的州作为避难所。正如马里兰州共和党州长拉里·霍根(Larry Hogan)所说，“这是我们能做的最起码的事情”，帮助那些为我们的国家冒着生命危险的人。
虽然这些州长已经表明了他们对我们国家的同情和自由价值观的承诺，但他们的情感并不普遍。包括前总统唐纳德·特朗普和众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡在内的一些政客正在我们的盟友周围散布疑虑，他们曲解了阿富汗难民的彻底审查程序。这种散布恐惧的行为是危险的，也不是基于事实。
作为特朗普领导下的美国国土安全部负责反恐和预防威胁的前助理部长，我负责加强对难民、特殊移民签证持有者和其他人的安全审查程序。总的来说，难民和结构性投资工具是被美国接受的最彻底审查的移民类别。当然，可以理解的是，快速撤离和大量难民被送往美国，令人怀疑我们的进程能否在如此短的时间内有效应对如此大规模的难民增加。
上周，我开始了解正在使用的流程。我在审查社区的前同事们夜以继日地工作，利用技术和重新设计流程，以实现更简化但更彻底的安全审查流程。
事实是:任何阿富汗人，无论他们是被接纳为SIV人还是作为人道主义假释的一部分，只有在进行传记和生物特征检查后，才被接纳进入美国。美国正在对多个机构的财产进行姓名、出生日期和其他个人身份识别信息以及指纹检查。这包括恐怖分子监视名单以及生物识别数据库美国难民接收计划筛选。如果发现贬损信息，个人将被拉到一边进行额外的筛选。正如已经公开报道的那样，这种人不允许进入美国。
虽然美国人和阿富汗人的撤离在许多方面都有缺陷，我希望拜登政府注意到许多人提出的警告，即需要在当前危机发生前很久投资于我们的安全审查程序，但我相信，用于接纳阿富汗难民进入美国的安全审查程序是有能力的，并将阻止已知和可疑的恐怖分子进入该国。
知道审查过程是合理的，对拜登政府的撤离过程和政策选择有正当批评的政治领导人应该谨慎选择他们的措辞。多重研究将反移民和散布恐惧的言论，特别是知名政治和媒体人士的言论，与移民的增加联系起来仇恨犯罪和暴力。当我们着手安置成千上万的阿富汗难民时，我们应该避免使用煽动恐惧或仇恨的语言。这些阿富汗人遭受了创伤帮助美国，我们应该欢迎他们。
我们绝对应该对拜登政府在阿富汗的行动提出尖锐的问题。美国的撤军正在该地区制造不稳定，这可能会助长伊斯兰国和基地组织的气焰。这阿富汗妇女和女孩的未来处于危险之中。这个国家处于混乱之中。让我们专注于这些问题，而不是煽动对冒着一切风险的个人的恐惧，希望他们国家的未来会与现在大不相同。
在这最后的日子里，我们现在的重点必须是支持我们的部队完成从一场20年战争中撤离，这场战争夺去了成千上万人的生命。做到这一点的一个有意义的方法是欢迎和支持在他们的家园欢迎和支持我们的阿富汗难民。
Amid Afghanistan chaos, refugee vetting process is sound: OPINION
In recent weeks, we have watchedharrowing imagesof desperate Afghan men, women and children attempt to escape Taliban rule. For 20 years, the United States made promises: If you help us defeat al-Qaida and the Taliban, then we will ensure you and your family are safe from retribution. And if that is not possible in Afghanistan, we will provide you refuge in the United States.
Now, these men and women who risked their lives to support our fight against terrorism, plus millions of Afghans who have flourished in the increasing freedoms from the last 20 years -- women, journalists, Christians and other Afghans of non-Muslim faiths -- face greatrisk of violent oppression or death.
It is right that the U.S. is evacuating as many people as possible. We should do so without a deadline. The U.S. should stayuntil we finish the jobof evacuating all American citizens and Afghans that served alongside us, and as many other Afghans in fear for their lives as possible.
Inspired by the example set by the Greatest Generation, who experienced firsthand the human costs of war during World War II, our country has served as a global beacon of freedom and opportunity by providing a safe haven for victims of war, oppression, genocide and natural disasters. We should save our allies and offer refuge to those endangered because it is the humane and just thing to do and is consistent with our country's principles that all men and women are "endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights," including life and liberty.
No, we cannot intervene in every injustice in the world. As great as our country is, we are humans, not God, with limitations on our resources, time, knowledge and capabilities. But we do have a moral responsibility to save who we can from mass atrocities and genocide.
Moreover, failure to protect our allies could yield national security implications in the future. My colleagues at the Council on National Security and Immigrationhave arguedthat failing to live up to our promises could put our military service members in danger by making it more difficult to forge new alliances in future conflict missions. And as I've written before, robust refugee programsstrengthen national security.
Fortunately, both Democratic and Republican governors across the country are stepping up. From California to South Carolina, state leaders are vocally supporting U.S. efforts to evacuate Afghans and offering their states as refuge. As Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said, "It's the least we can do" for people who put their lives at risk for our country.
While these governors have shown their commitment to our nation's values of compassion and freedom, their sentiments are not universal. Some politicians, including former President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, are sowing doubt around our allies by misconstruing thethorough vetting process for Afghan refugees. This fearmongering is dangerous and not based in fact.
As former assistant secretary of counterterrorism and threat prevention at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Trump, I was responsible for strengthening the security vetting processes used for refugees, special immigrant visa holders and others. In general, refugees and SIVs are among the most thoroughly vetted categories of immigrants admitted to the United States. Of course, the rapid evacuation and large numbers of refugees being sent to the United States understandably raises questions as to whether our processes can work effectively with such significant increases in volume in a compressed time frame.
Last week, I set about to understand the processes being used. My former colleagues in the vetting community worked around the clock, leveraging technology and redesigning processes to allow for a more streamlined, but thorough, security vetting process.
Here's the truth: Any Afghan, whether they are being admitted as an SIV or as part of the humanitarian parole, is only admitted into the U.S. after biographic and biometric checks are conducted. The U.S. is checking names, dates of birth and other biographic identifiers, as well as fingerprints, against multiple agencies' holdings. That includes the terrorist watchlist as well as the biometric databases that are part ofU.S. Refugee Admissions Program screening. If derogatory information is discovered, an individual is pulled aside for additional screening. And as has been publicly reported, such individuals are not admitted to the United States.
While the evacuation of Americans and Afghans has been flawed in many respects, and I wish the Biden administration had heeded the warnings that many offered about the need to invest in our security vetting procedures well in advance of the current crisis, I am confident that the security vetting process being used for admitting Afghan refugees into the United States is competent and will keep known and suspected terrorists from entering the country.
Knowing that the vetting process is sound, political leaders with legitimate criticisms of the Biden administration's evacuation process and policy choices should choose their words carefully. Multiplestudieshave linked anti-immigrant and fearmongering rhetoric, particularly by prominent political and media personalities, to increases inhate crimesandviolence. As we move to resettle tens of thousands of Afghan refugees, we should avoid language that incites fear or hatred. TheseAfghans have endured traumato help the United States, and we should welcome them.
We should absolutely be asking tough questions about the Biden administration's actions in Afghanistan. The U.S. withdrawal is creating instability in the region that could embolden ISIS and al-Qaida. Thefuture for Afghan women and girlsis at risk. The country is in chaos. Let's focus on those questions instead of inciting fear about individuals who risked everything, in the hope that their country's future would look very different than this.
Our focus now, in these final days, must be on supporting our troops as they complete the evacuation from a 20-year war that's cost thousands of lives. One meaningful way to do that is by welcoming and supporting Afghan refugees who have welcomed and supported us in their homeland.
