In a recent development, a member of the progressive "Squad," Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), has urged the United States to open its doors to Palestinian refugees.
This call comes in the wake of an estimated displacement of 1 million people in Gaza within a week, as reported by Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. However, this proposition has been met with staunch opposition from several Republicans.
Bowman, who is currently under investigation for allegedly pulling a fire alarm at the Cannon House Office Building during a House vote, stated, "Fifty percent of the population in Gaza are children. The international community, as well as the United States, should be prepared to welcome refugees from Palestine while being very careful to vet and not allow members of Hamas," as quoted by the New York Post.
In response to Bowman's call, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a GOP presidential candidate, firmly declared that the U.S. should not accept Palestinian refugees. He suggested an alternative solution to the humanitarian crisis during a campaign stop in Iowa. "Also I will say, and I dont know what Bidens going to do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees," DeSantis said. "I am not going to do that."
DeSantis continued, "If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all anti-Semitic. None of them believe in Israels right to exist. None of the Arab States are willing to take any of them. The Arab States should be taking them if you have refugees. You dont fly people and import them into the United States of America. So we're going to be very strong on that."
DeSantis also criticized U.S. citizens who support and "praise" Hamas militants who executed terrorist atrocities against Israeli civilians last weekend. "We've got some serious problems in this country, we've allowed a lot of these problems to fester," DeSantis noted. "But my view is very simple if you don't like this country, if you hate America, you should not come to this country. We've got to start being smart about this."
On Thursday, DeSantis signed an executive order for the state of Florida to "carry out logistical, rescue and evacuation operations" to bring Floridians home from war-torn Israel. The executive order also provides necessary supplies to the people of Israel.
Other Republicans have also voiced strong opposition to resettling refugees from Palestine in the United States. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told the New York Post, "The U.S. is the most generous nation in the world, but we are in no position to accept additional refugees, especially from a region with as high a risk of terrorism, given our nations inability to secure our own border or vet those who are already here."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) added, "Iran should take responsibility for any Palestinian refugees caused by its proxy . . . war with Israel. Iran is responsible for the death and destruction it should be responsible for refugees as well."
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) declared, "The entire focus of the United States right now should be on rescuing American hostages, and making sure that Israel has every resource needed to defeat Iran backed-Hamas and defend its homeland. Some Progressive politicians are calling on the United States to take refugees from Gaza."
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said he would oppose the resettlement of Palestinian refugees in the United States.
In the meantime, Reps. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) and (R-Tenn.) are set to introduce legislation that would bar President Joe Biden from importing refugees from Palestine. The bill titled the "Guaranteeing Aggressors Zero Admission Act" or the "GAZA Act" for short would prevent the Biden administration from issuing visas to Palestinian refugees.
Tiffany said on the X social media platform, "We cant let abuse our parole and visa rules to bring unvetted Palestinians into American communities the way he did with thousands of unvetted Afghans."
The Israeli military has issued a warning to Palestinians that an all-out offensive will happen in the near future and Gaza residents should travel south to evade the combat operations targeting Hamas terrorists detaining hostages. The evacuation area includes approximately 1.1 million Palestinians roughly half of the territory's population.
Login