Ted Cruz Rebukes 2021 CNN Fact‑Check After Alleged Afghan Evacuee Shooting, Renewing Vetting Debate

Ted Cruz Challenges 2021 CNN Fact‑Check as New Incidents Raise Questions About Evacuee Vetting

Sen. Ted Cruz (R‑Texas) on Thursday pushed back against a 2021 CNN fact‑check that disputed his warnings about the vetting of Afghan evacuees admitted under Operation Allies Welcome. Cruz said a recent violent incident involving a former evacuee — a shooting that left one West Virginia National Guard member dead and another wounded — validates his earlier concerns that the vetting process was insufficient.

Cruz’s Position: Cruz told Fox News Digital that in 2021 he and other conservatives repeatedly warned that tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees were being allowed into the United States without thorough screening. "As we've seen over and over, Democrats, journalists and self‑declared experts work together to push false narratives that promote their shared ideology," he said, accusing administration officials and friendly media of minimizing security risks instead of addressing them.

"At the time, I said they weren’t adequately vetting those evacuees and that they were facilitating child trafficking and inviting terrorism...Americans have been and continue to be at risk because of those policies and the cover‑up used to justify them." — Sen. Ted Cruz

CNN’s 2021 Fact‑Check: In 2021, CNN published a fact‑check saying it was "misleading" to claim Afghan evacuees were not being vetted. The network reported that intelligence, law enforcement and counterterrorism professionals conducted security screenings both before departure and in transit, and that some evacuees were vetted more than once.

Recent Developments and Official Reactions: Critics point to recent arrests and detentions of evacuees with serious criminal allegations — including convictions for sexual battery and lewd acts with a minor, arrests for alleged child abuse and suspected ties to extremist groups — to argue vetting failures occurred. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have publicly noted such cases.

A senior DHS official quoted by critics accused the administration of a "trust without verification" approach. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said DHS has been actively identifying and arresting "known or suspected terrorists and criminal illegal aliens" who entered through parole programs, and alleged that officials accepted evacuees' accounts without thorough background checks.

Pushback From Supporters Of The Administration: CNN reiterated that its 2021 reporting stands and that a recent violent incident does not change the documented vetting processes. The Department of Justice Inspector General’s reports have been cited in public back‑and‑forths by both critics and defenders of the administration regarding how thoroughly agencies screened evacuees.

Political Fallout: The exchange has become part of a broader political debate over the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan and Operation Allies Welcome. Former President Donald Trump was recently confronted by a reporter about blaming President Biden for alleged vetting failures; the exchange grew heated after the reporter cited a DOJ Inspector General finding that she said indicated thorough vetting by DHS and the FBI.

What’s Next

The controversy underscores ongoing tensions between humanitarian commitments and national security concerns. Congressional hearings, further DHS and DOJ reviews, and additional reporting on individual cases are likely to shape the debate as investigators and lawmakers seek clarity about how evacuees were screened and how any gaps might be remedied.