Biden’s Gaza refugee plan will welcome people who ‘hate America’ and threaten national security, Homeland Security chairman warns as outrage mounts
A top lawmaker is sounding the alarm over the Biden administration’s reported plan to bring Palestinian refugees directly to the US, saying it poses a national security risk.
Multiple federal agencies under Biden are considering a plan to bring Palestinian refugees directly to the US, according to government documents reviewed by CBS News
The plan comes as pro-Gaza protests have engulfed university campuses across the country and students – who could be seen as likely Biden voters – have expressed solidarity with the Gaza Strip.
But Republicans see the idea as foolish and dangerous.
“There is no justification for allowing into our country those who actively hate America, our founding principles and our way of life,” House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., told DailyMail.com in an exclusive statement .
President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly considering a plan to bring Palestinian refugees from Gaza directly to the United States. The plan could provide refugees with housing assistance and a path to citizenship, and the White House and other federal agencies have neither confirmed nor denied the plan
“Furthermore, there is no way to properly vet these potential refugees.”
“But given his nonsensical and destructive approach to border security, immigration and national security, it is not surprising that President Biden is considering welcoming refugees from Hamas-dominated Gaza – something even neighboring Arab countries in the region have refused to do.”
The majority of Republicans in the Senate have also spoken out strongly against the Biden administration’s efforts.
“We demand that your government stop making plans to accept refugees from Gaza until you adequately address our concerns and instead focus your attention on securing the release of American hostages held by Hamas,” Joni Ernst wrote, Senate Republican Policy Chairman R-Iowa to Biden. Wednesday.
The letter was signed by 34 members of the Senate GOP group.
House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., said the plan could pose a risk to national security, adding that there is no adequate method to verify the refugee’s identity.
The US has helped more than 1,800 American citizens and their families leave Gaza, a White House spokesperson told DailyMail.com
When asked for comment on the reported plan, the White House spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied its existence.
“The United States has helped more than 1,800 American citizens and their families leave Gaza, many of whom have come to the United States,” the spokesperson told DailyMail.com in a statement.
“The United States also remains the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Gaza to address dire conditions, and we are doing everything we can to get more urgently needed aid to more people as quickly as possible.”
However, under the plan, the refugees would have to have a direct connection to the US, with family members who are citizens or permanent residents.
If they pass a series of medical and safety tests, these refugees can receive benefits such as housing assistance and a path to citizenship.
The deliberate action could involve the United States Refugee Admissions Program, which allows the U.S. Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services to admit refugees and provide them with “U.S. government-funded resettlement assistance.”
The three departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Since its inception in 1980, the program has not resettled large numbers of Palestinians.
Although the US has admitted 400,000 refugees in the past decade, fewer than 600 have been Palestinians.
A woman walks through the rubble of a collapsed building in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas
The terrorist group Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip for decades and has been engaged in brutal fighting with Israeli forces for months. Green expressed concern about bringing Palestinians to the US because of their support for Hamas
Still, Green told DailyMail.com that the Biden administration’s idea is a threat.
“The last thing our country needs in the middle of a historic border crisis – a crisis caused in part by people abusing our asylum system – is to further stretch that system while jeopardizing our national security.”
“And if the failed Afghan withdrawal and subsequent failed checks tell us anything, it is that allowing these individuals in poses a major risk to our safety and security now and in the future.”