By Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday denied U.S. landing rights for a charter plane carrying more than 100 Americans and U.S. green card holders evacuated from Afghanistan, organizers of the flight said.

Bryan Stern, founder of Project Dynamo’s non-profit organization, stated that the Customs and Border Protection Agency would not permit a charter to fly internationally into the United States.

Stern spoke with Reuters aboard a chartered plane from Kam Air in Afghanistan. Stern said that the aircraft had been waiting for him and his group at Abu Dhabi Airport since he arrived from Kabul.

He is among many who emerged from the ad hoc networks formed by U.S. military vets, current and past U.S. officers and others to support last month’s U.S. emergency evacuation.

DHS has not yet responded to our request for comment.

A spokesperson for the administration spoke on condition of anonymity to say that they weren’t familiar with the issue, however, the U.S. government usually takes the time to check the manifests of charter aircrafts before allowing them to land in the United States.

U.S. President Joe Biden said that his top priority was to return Americans and any green card holders who could not leave Afghanistan as part of the U.S. military evacuation.

According to a State Department senior official, the United States is aware that about 100 Americans and legal permanent residences are ready to depart Afghanistan.

Stern reported that the KamAir flight carried six Americans, an additional 83 green-card holders and six individuals with U.S. Special Immigration Visas issued to Afghans during the two-year war in Afghanistan.

The plan was for him to take the passengers aboard a chartered Ethiopian Airlines aircraft to be transferred to the United States. Stern said that Customs allowed the plane to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The clearance was changed to Dulles International Airport, Washington. After that, Customs denied the plane any landing rights in the United States.

He said, “I have an enormous, magnificent, massive, and humongous Boeing 787 (NYSE:) that I can see sitting in front of me.” I have crew. “I have food.

Stern stated that intermediaries had been granted permission by the Taliban-run Afghan Civil Aviation Authority to allow the charter flights to pick up passengers at Kabul’s airport.