House Republicans Propose to Ban Immigration of Palestinian Citizens

Washington, D.C.- Representatives Tom Tiffany (R-WI) and Andy Ogles (R-TN) have filed the Guaranteeing Aggressors Zero Admission (GAZA) Act to prohibit Palestinian immigration. 

If passed, the bill would exclude individuals with a Palestinian passport from receiving immigration visas. 

Representative Tiffany claims the act’s purpose is to “protect America’s national security.” 

According to Tiffany, President Joe Biden’s mismanagement of the Afghanistan refugee crisis enabled the entry of questionable individuals into the US. Tiffany does not want the current Israel-Hamas conflict to have a similar end result. 

“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,” stated Tiffany. 

Since 1975, the US has admitted more than 3.5 million refugees. From 2000-2021, the three largest refugee groups settling in the US are from Burma, Iraq, and Somalia, respectively. 

Following the US’s cataclysmic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration enacted ‘Operation Allies Welcome’ to help afghans relocate to the US. According to the State Department, over 90,000 afghans have settled in the US since the US’s departure from Afghanistan. 

Aside from criticizing the Afghan withdrawal operation itself, conservatives have criticized how the Biden administration’s lax immigration policy helped mismanage the Afghan refugee crisis and worsen the overarching situation at the Southwest border. 

Last, June, for example, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sued the Department of Homeland Security over its parole policy on immigration. 

The state of Florida asserted that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Border Patrol Chief Ortiz intended to restart the, "en masse parole of aliens to the Southwest Border."