International
Afghan Evacuee Added to CIS National Security Vetting Failures Database
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi displaying a pro-ISIS hand gesture common among ISIS militants. He posted this photo on a Tik Tok account while in Oklahoma, resulting in an account ban. Photo courtesy of an FBI complaint filed as part of his criminal court case.
From the Center for Immigration Studies
By Todd Bensman
Former CIA guard is charged with terrorism; assurances that he was vetted turn out to be untrue
An Afghan evacuee from the August 2021 fall of Kabul who stands charged with multiple terrorism offenses that include a mass-casualty firearms attack plot is the latest addition to the Center for Immigration Studies National Security Vetting Failures Database, bringing the total number of cases to 49.
In March 2023, the Center published the database collection to draw “remedial attention” to ongoing government vetting failures lest they “drift from the public mind and interest of lawmakers, oversight committee members, media, and homeland security practitioners who would otherwise feel compelled to demand process reforms”, according to an explanatory Center report titled “Learning from our Mistakes”.
The latest addition is Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, who worked in Afghanistan as an outside guard for a Central Intelligence Agency facility and was authorized for air evacuation from a third country a month after the August 2021 fall of Kabul to Dallas, Texas, on a hastily approved humanitarian parole.
He was among nearly 100,000 mostly Afghan evacuees, of whom about 77,000 were initially admitted into the United States via humanitarian parole through a program called Operation Allies Welcome. All became eligible for more permanent Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) mainly intended to protect Afghans who collaborated with U.S. military operations from reprisals by the Taliban group that seized control of the country.
After arriving in the United States on September 9, 2021, on humanitarian parole, Tawhedi settled with his wife and infant near Oklahoma City on an SIV. He initially worked as a Lyft driver in Dallas and later as an auto mechanic in Oklahoma.
Some 37 months after arriving, in October 2024, the FBI arrested the 27-year-old Tawhedi and a juvenile co-conspirator — Tawhedi’s brother-in-law — for an alleged plot to conduct an Election Day terrorist firearms attack in the United States on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization still active in Afghanistan. The unidentified co-conspirator, an Afghan, entered the United States in 2018 also on an SIV, but little else is known about his vetting processes.
Their plot involved liquidating a house and personal assets to fund the repatriation of Tawhedi’s wife and child to Afghanistan and weapons necessary for him and the juvenile to conduct a mass-casualty attack during which they would be killed, a criminal complaint alleged. The pair obtained semi-automatic rifles and ammunition for the attack, although by then FBI undercover agents had penetrated the plot.
Shortly after the arrests, U.S. government officials claimed that Tawhedi was “thoroughly” vetted three times: first to work for the CIA in Afghanistan, then “recurrently” by DHS for the humanitarian parole status allowing him to fly into the United States, and then for the Special Immigrant Visa once he was settled, probably sometime in 2022.
No red flags turned up, they asserted, without providing evidence.
“Afghan evacuees who sought to enter the United States were subject to multilayered screening and vetting against intelligence, law enforcement and counterterrorism information. If new information emerges after arrival, appropriate action is taken,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital in October 2024.
But within weeks of making those assertions, U.S. officials reversed course and acknowledged that Tawhedi did not undergo the previously claimed vetting. The State Department, in fact, never vetted or approved Tawhedi, nor had he been very thoroughly vetted for his CIA guard post job in Afghanistan, they said. DHS did not “thoroughly” vet Tawhedi for humanitarian parole on a recurring basis as initially claimed about all Afghan evacuees, either, before allowing him to fly from the unknown third country into the United States.
The screening process for Afghan evacuees in the program includes probing for any possible ties to terrorism, ISIS, or the Taliban using databases the U.S. compiled over 20 years in Afghanistan that include data from applicant electronic devices, biometrics, and other sources.
It’s unclear when Tawhedin radicalized in ways that might have been detected. U.S. officials initially told U.S. media they believed that happened only after he was admitted into the United States. In court records, the FBI says Tawhedi’s initial crime — sending $540 in cryptocurrency to ISIS — occurred in March 2024. But his ties and extremist proclivities almost certainly predated the currency transfer.
Had Tawhedi been thoroughly vetting when he was supposed to be, red flags were more likely than not available to be found both before and after he arrived in the U.S.
For instance, adjudicators might have found pre-existing extremist ideological proclivities within Tawhedi’s immediate family because two brothers evacuated to France also were arrested in September 2024 for a terrorism plot there to attack a French soccer match or shopping center, according to numerous media accounts and information that surfaced during an October 2024 Oklahoma City federal court hearing. (The French and Americans collaborated on both cases).
Furthermore, court records reveal that Tawhedi maintained relationships with well-known ISIS figures that were sufficiently trusting to have enabled direct communications with them by phone and on encrypted apps.
In fact, Tawhedi trusted these operatives to care for his repatriated wife and child after he was killed in the U.S. attack and to gift substantial remaining funds from the sale of the Oklahoma house. Lastly, an FBI investigator in the October 2024 court complaint indicated that most extended family members in Tawhedi’s Oklahoma circle were aware of the plot, approved, and could still be charged as co-conspirators as of that time.
The fact that many family members in the U.S. and abroad felt this way about Tawhedi’s plans further indicates that their extremism pre-dated U.S. entry and might have red-flagged during face-to-face interviews, database checks, and other standard security vetting practices.
Underscoring the admitted Tawhedi vetting failure, a September 2022 DHS Office of Inspector General report found, in part, that U.S. Customs and Border Protection “admitted or paroled evacuees who were not fully vetted into the United States” and that, “As a result, DHS may have admitted or paroled individuals into the United States who pose a risk to national security and the safety of local communities.”
Business
DOOR TO DOOR: Feds descend on Minneapolis day cares tied to massive fraud
Federal agents are now going “DOOR TO DOOR” in Minneapolis, launching what the Department of Homeland Security itself describes as an on-the-ground sweep of businesses and day-care centers tied to Minnesota’s exploding fraud scandal — a case that has already burned through at least $1 billion in taxpayer money and is rapidly closing in on Democrat Gov. Tim Walz and his administration.
ICE agents, working under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, fanned out across the city this week, showing up unannounced at locations suspected of billing state and federal programs for services that never existed. One day-care worker told reporters Monday that masked agents arrived at her facility, demanded paperwork, and questioned staff about operations and enrollment.
“DHS is on the ground in Minneapolis, going DOOR TO DOOR at suspected fraud sites,” the agency posted on X. “The American people deserve answers on how their taxpayer money is being used and ARRESTS when abuse is found.”
DHS is on the ground in Minneapolis, going DOOR TO DOOR at suspected fraud sites.
The American people deserve answers on how their taxpayer money is being used and ARRESTS when abuse is found. Under the leadership of @Sec_Noem, DHS is working to deliver results. pic.twitter.com/7XtRflv36b
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) December 29, 2025
Authorities say the confirmed fraud already totals roughly $300 million tied to fake food programs, $220 million linked to bogus autism services, and more than $300 million charged for housing assistance that never reached the people it was meant to help. Investigators from the FBI, Justice Department, and Department of Labor have now expanded their probes after a viral investigation exposed taxpayer-funded day cares that received more than $1 million each while allegedly serving few — or zero — children.
One of the most glaring examples, the Minneapolis-based Quality “Learing” Center — infamous for its misspelled sign — suddenly appeared busy Monday as national media arrived. Locals told reporters the center is typically empty and often looks permanently closed, despite receiving about $1.9 million in public funds. State inspection records show the facility has racked up 95 violations since 2019. Employees allegedly cursed at reporters while children were bused in during posted afternoon hours.
DHS officials say the “DOOR TO DOOR” operation is deliberate. In videos released online, agents are seen questioning nearby business owners about whether adjacent buildings ever had foot traffic, whether they appeared open, and whether operators used subcontractors or outside partners to pad billing. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem posted footage of agents pressing workers about business relationships and transportation services used by suspected fraud sites.
“This is a large-scale investigation,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the New York Post, confirming that Homeland Security Investigations and ICE are targeting fraudulent day-care and health-care centers as well as related financial schemes.
FBI Director Kash Patel warned that what investigators have uncovered so far is “just the tip of a very large iceberg.” He pointed to the bureau’s dismantling of a $250 million COVID-era food-aid scam tied to the Feeding Our Future network, a case that resulted in 78 indictments and 57 convictions. Patel has also made clear that denaturalization and deportation remain on the table for convicted fraudsters where the law allows.
Dozens of arrests have already been made across the broader scheme, many involving Somali immigrants, though federal officials stress the investigation targets criminal behavior — not communities. Some local residents say the scandal is hurting law-abiding families. One Somali Uber driver told reporters he works 16-hour days and is furious that “some people are taking advantage of the system,” making the entire community look bad.
Now, with federal agents going “DOOR TO DOOR” across Minneapolis, the era of polite indifference appears to be over. The message from Washington is blunt: the money trail is being followed, the paperwork is being checked, and the days of treating taxpayer-funded programs like an open vault are coming to an end.
Business
Feds pull the plug on small business grants to Minnesota after massive fraud reports
The Small Business Administration is moving to freeze grant money flowing into Minnesota after explosive allegations of large-scale fraud tied to state oversight failures, with SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler signaling an immediate crackdown following recent independent reporting.
In a series of comments shared publicly by conservative commentator Benny Johnson, Loeffler said the agency is “cutting off and clawing back” SBA grants to the state while investigators dig deeper into what she described as a rapidly expanding fraud network.
Johnson wrote that Loeffler told him she was “disgusted and sickened” after reviewing footage from YouTuber Nick Shirley, whose on-the-ground reporting in Minnesota highlighted what he said were sham daycare and learning centers collecting millions in public funds despite showing little or no sign of legitimate operations.
According to Johnson, Loeffler blamed the situation on Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, accusing his administration of refusing to enforce basic rules governing small businesses and allowing fraud to flourish unchecked.
Johnson said Loeffler told him SBA investigators were able to identify roughly half a billion dollars in suspected fraud within days of focusing on Minnesota, calling the operation an “industrial-scale crime ring” that ripped off American taxpayers.
“Pending further review, SBA is freezing all grant funding to the state in order to stop the rampant waste of taxpayer dollars and uncover the full depth of fraud,” Loeffler said, according to Johnson’s account, adding that the total scope of the scheme remains unknown and could reach into the billions.
The controversy gained national traction after Shirley posted video of himself visiting multiple facilities, including a South Minneapolis site known as the Quality Learning Center, which he reported was approved for federal aid for up to 99 children but appeared inactive during normal business hours.
The center’s sign, Shirley noted, even misspelled the word “learning” as “learing.”
In the footage, a woman inside the building is heard shouting “Don’t open up,” falsely claiming Shirley and his colleague were Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
After the video circulated, Rep. Tom Emmer, a Republican, publicly demanded answers from Walz, questioning how such facilities were approved for millions in taxpayer funding.
Shirley’s reporting followed earlier investigations, including a November report by City Journal alleging that members of Minnesota’s Somali community had sent millions of dollars in stolen taxpayer funds overseas, with some of that money reportedly ending up in the hands of Al-Shabaab, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
While Walz’s administration has insisted it takes fraud seriously, the SBA’s decision to halt grant funding marks one of the most aggressive federal responses yet, underscoring how rapidly a local scandal has escalated into a national reckoning over oversight, enforcement, and accountability in Minnesota.
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