WASHINGTON
– Forty-four Afghan troops visiting the United States
for military training have gone missing in less than two years, presumably in
an effort to live and work illegally in America, according to a report by Reuters. 

Although the number of
disappearances is relatively small — some 2,200 Afghan troops have received
military training in the United States since 2007 — the incidents raise
questions about security and screening procedures for the programs.

They are also potentially
embarrassing for U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, which has spent
billions of dollars training Afghan troops as Washington seeks to extricate
itself from the costly, 15-year-old war. The disclosure could fuel criticism by
supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has accused the
Obama administration of failing to properly vet immigrants from Muslim-majority
countries and has pledged a much tougher stance if he wins.

While other foreign troops on
U.S. military training visits have sometimes run away, a U.S. defense official said
that the frequency of Afghan troops going missing was concerning and “out
of the ordinary.”

Since September alone, eight
Afghan troops have left military bases without authorization, Pentagon
spokesman Adam Stump told Reuters. He said the total number of Afghan troops
who have gone missing since January 2015 is 44, a number that has not
previously been disclosed.

“The Defense Department is
assessing ways to strengthen eligibility criteria for training in ways that
will reduce the likelihood of an individual Afghan willingly absconding from
training in the U.S. and going AWOL (absent without leave),” Stump said.

Afghans in the U.S. training
program are vetted to ensure they have not participated in human rights abuses
and are not affiliated with militant groups before being allowed into the
United States, Stump said.

The defense official, who spoke
on condition of anonymity, added there was no evidence any of those who had
absconded had carried out crimes or posed a threat to the United States.

The Afghan army has occasionally
been infiltrated by Taliban militants who have carried out attacks on Afghan
and U.S. troops, but such incidents have become less frequent due to tougher
security measures.

Trump, whose other signature
immigration plan is to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, has proposed a
temporary ban on Muslims seeking to enter the country, and has said that law
enforcement officers should engage in more racial profiling to curb the threat
of attacks on American soil.

After Omar Mateen, whose father
was born in Afghanistan, killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando in
June, Trump said an immigration ban would last until “we are in a position
to properly screen these people coming into our country.”