Kennedy, Ernst demand Biden not welcome unvetted Gazans to U.S.

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and 33 other colleagues in urging the Biden administration not to bring Gazan refugees to the U.S. and to focus instead on bringing American hostages back home.

Earlier this week, reports revealed the White House is considering welcoming Gazans to the U.S.

"Your administration's reported plan to accept Gazan refugees poses 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," wrote the lawmakers.

"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 senators explained.

Recent polling found that more than 70% of Gazans support Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023 attack against civilians in Israel.

"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. 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," they continued.

"Unfortunately, the risk of terrorists entering our homeland is no hypothetical matter. Border officials have arrested 169 people on the FBI terror watch lists in Fiscal Year 2023, a record-setting number that exceeds the total of the last six fiscal years combined. Apprehended terrorists include a Hezbollah fighter who intended 'to make a bomb' and was headed for New York. 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.?" the senators concluded.

Background:

• Kennedy authored a bill to ban U.S. funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) permanently due to employees of the refugee agency support for Hamas.

• Kennedy introduced the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act to address reports indicating that Palestinian students are being taught inaccurate or racist content about Israel and the Jewish people.

The full letter is available here.

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