Two Republican lawmakers are moving to introduce legislation that would prohibit the U.S. from accepting potential Palestinian refugees displaced by the conflict in Israel.
Reps. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., and Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., will introduce the Guaranteeing Aggressors Zero Admission Act, or the GAZA Act, which aims to prevent the Biden administration from granting visas to holders of Palestinian passports, according to a report from the New York Post Saturday.
“We can’t let President Biden abuse our parole and visa rules to bring unvetted Palestinians into American communities the way he did with thousands of unvetted Afghans,” Tiffany said of the legislation in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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The bill would also prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from allowing Palestinians into the country through its parole program.
According to the report, experts believe that there could be more than a million Palestinian refugees from Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
“I introduced the GAZA Act to protect America’s national security,” Tiffany said.
The bill comes at the same time as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., announced his intention to introduce legislation aimed at forcing the Biden administration to cancel visas for foreign nationals who “endorse or espouse terrorist activity.”
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“America is the most generous nation on earth, but we cannot allow foreign nationals who support terrorist groups like Hamas and march in our streets calling for ‘intifada’ to enter or stay in our country,” Rubio said in a press release. “The Biden administration has the authority and an obligation under existing law to immediately identify, cancel the visas of, and remove foreign nationals already here in America who have demonstrated support for terrorist groups, and in many cases, even celebrated the slaughter of Israeli babies and the rape of Jewish girls.”
The GOP moves come as some Democrats have called for the U.S. to accept refugees from Gaza, including Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who stressed that the U.S. should not allow members of Hamas to enter the country.
“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,” Bowman told the New York Post.
Reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a White House National Security Council spokesperson noted that “all refugees undergo robust screening and vetting prior to being admitted to the United States,” adding that “at this time, there are no plans for new visa programs.”
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