Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott were among three dozen GOP senators who ripped President Joe Biden for reportedly planning to bring Gazan refugees into the country, and possibly exposing the U.S. to potential terrorists.
In a letter sent to Biden last week, the lawmakers asserted that such a move would be a national security risk to the United States.
“With more than a third of Gazans supporting the Hamas militants, we are not confident that your administration can adequately vet this high-risk population for terrorist ties and sympathies before admitting them into the United States,” Rubio, Scott, and the others wrote.
“We are also frustrated that your administration is pushing ahead with a plan to evacuate Gazans from the Strip when there are still American citizens held hostage by Hamas. We demand that your administration cease planning for accepting Gazan refugees until you adequately answer our concerns and focus your attention instead on securing the release of U.S. hostages held by Hamas.”
The lawmakers cited a CBS News report from last week that asserted senior officials from “several” federal agencies had discussed resettling into the U.S. any Palestinians from Gaza who have immediate family members who are American citizens or permanent residents.
While the report claimed the supposed refugees must pass eligibility, medical, and security screenings before being allowed to enter America, the plan itself ignored that Hamas remains in control of large parts of the Gaza Strip.
Thus, the lawmakers added, U.S. and allied officials have almost no access to Gazans in the area, which makes it “nearly impossible” to thoroughly vet them.
“We must ensure Gazans with terrorist ties or sympathies are denied admission into the United States—no easy feat, given the fact that the Gazans were the ones who voted Hamas into power in 2006,” they wrote.
“Without thorough vetting, your administration may inadvertently accept terrorists posing as refugees into the interior. This is especially the case as Hamas terrorists have a long track record of co-mingling with civilian populations in Gaza.”
The senators also pointed out that this risk is heightened because Biden is already failing to protect against entry by terrorists.
Last year, Border Patrol officials arrested 169 people on the FBI terror watch, which was a record-setting number that exceeded the total of the past six years combined.
Read: Biden Admin Shuts Down Highly Partisan National Security Advisory Group
“Given your administration’s abject failure at countering the flow of potential terrorists at our border, how can Congress trust your administration to adequately vet the refugees crossing the Egypt-Gaza border, located nearly 6,000 miles away from Washington, D.C.?” they added.
“We are confused as to why the United States is willing to accept Gazan refugees when even nearby Arab countries supportive of the Palestinian cause refuse to take them in due to security concerns.”
In fact, they noted that America did not want them until Biden became president.
Since 2001, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, Palestinians have made up less than 0.2% of all refugees admitted into the U.S., they wrote.
They demanded that Biden stop this plan until he provides more information about it, including first and foremost how to bring back the Americans being held hostage by Hamas.
“Our first obligation should be to rescue our own citizens, not Gazans,” they wrote.
Among their requests, they wanted Biden to explain how many Gazan refugees he plans to accept, how he will ensure terrorists are screened out, and where and how he will provide temporary housing, including whether that means using military facilities and displacing any military personnel.
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