Bowling Green Today

In response to reports that the Biden administration is planning to welcome Gazan refugees into the United States, U.S Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has joined forces with U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) and 33 other Republican Senators. They are demanding that President Biden halt his plan due to concerns about potential terrorist ties among the refugees. Instead, they urge him to focus on rescuing American citizens currently held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

The senators argue that the acceptance of Gazan refugees poses a significant national security risk to the United States. They point out that more than a third of Gazans support Hamas militants, which raises doubts about the administration's ability to effectively vet this high-risk population for terrorist affiliations before admitting them into the country.

"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," wrote the senators.

A recent poll found that over 70% of Gazans viewed Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel as the “correct” decision. The senators highlighted this statistic, arguing it underscores the difficulty in ensuring those with terrorist ties or sympathies are denied admission into the United States.

The lawmakers also expressed concern about an increase in apprehensions at US borders, citing a record-setting number of arrests of individuals on FBI terror watch lists in Fiscal Year 2023. They questioned how Congress could trust the administration's ability to vet refugees crossing from Egypt into Gaza, located nearly 6,000 miles away from Washington D.C., given these circumstances.

To prevent potential national security threats from entering American soil at taxpayers' expense, they have requested President Biden provide information regarding how many refugees his administration plans to accept, what screening processes will be implemented to prevent terrorist sympathizers from reaching American soil, costs associated with this initiative, whether regional partners have been consulted and the proposed locations for refugee housing.

The full letter from the senators can be found HERE.