Homeland Security Clarifies Immigration Status Of Oklahoma City Terror Suspect

 Despite initial confusion during a State Department press briefing on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to News 9 on Thursday that 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi possesses a Special Immigrant Visa, which he obtained after entering the United States on Sept. 9, 2021, as a parolee.

Documents from the State Department explain the strict eligibility for this special visa program. Applicants must have performed work for the U.S. government in Afghanistan or its coalition forces.

Officials at the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security would not comment on what work Tawhedi provided to the U.S. government which later made him eligible for the visa.

Despite the granted visa, Tawhedi was awaiting lawful permanent resident status pending an immigration adjudication.

“Afghan evacuees who sought to enter the United States were subject to multilayered screening and vetting against intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism information,” a spokesperson for Homeland Security said in an email. “If new information emerges after arrival, appropriate action is taken.”

The agency emphasized vetting is a point-in-time check.

A retired foreign officer now living in Norman previously told News 9 it's likely Tawhedi was radicalized after moving to the United States, indicating less of a probability there was a lapse in his initial screening and vetting.

Tawhedi's juvenile co-conspirator came to the United States from Afghanistan on the same visa program but in 2018.