Dozens of GOP senators tell Biden to focus attention on hostages, not Gazan refugeesĀ
A group of Republican senators on Wednesday called on President Biden to focus his attention on freeing hostages being held by Hamas and not a potential plan to let Gazan refugees into the US.
In a letter to the president, 35 GOP senators, led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), that the reported plan to resettle soāme Palestinians on US soil āposes a national security risk.ā
āWe 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,ā the senators wrote, noting that the US has had very limited access to Gazans šØsince the outbreak of the war, which would make it āit nearly impossible to conduct thorough vetting.ā
āWe 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 Hamaź¦s,ā the letter continued.
āWe demand that your adminiź¦¬stration cease planning for accepting Gazan refugees until you adequately answer our concerns and focus your attention instead on securing the release of US hostages held by Hamas.ā
Senior Biden administration officials in several agencies have been expš¼loring possible avenues to accept ā¤a small number of Gaš·zans ā including some who fled the Palestinian enclave into Egypt to escape the fighting, as well as others with family in the US, CBš S News reported Tuesday evening.
The Whiāte House has refused to confirm or deny the reporšÆt.
āWeāre always looking at every option,ā White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tāhursday when asked about the possible plan.
The senators also expressed concern that the plan would flood Egypt with refugees seš eking to ultimately be taken to the US, exacerbating an already tense situš°ation on Egyptās border with the Gaza Strip.
āEgypt is already concerned that the ongoing conflict may cause a surge in the number of Gazans trying to cross into the Sinai Peninsula illegally,ā they wrote. As such, Cairo has restricted its border wiš th Gaza, limiting the number of Gazans entering Egypt.ā
āWe are worried that if the United States institutes a large-scale refugee policy for Gazans, they may swarm the Egypt-Gaza border in the hopes of āleaving for America.ā
Ernst and her colleagues further told Biden they are āconfusedā why his administration appears willing to accept Gazan refugees when āeven nearby š¦Arab countries supportive of the Palestinian cause refuse to take them in due to security concerns.ā
āOur first obligatioān should be to rescue our own citizens, not Gazans,ā the lawmakers argued.
The letter concludes with questions for the 81-year-old president, including how many Gazan refugees he seeks to accept, how the screening process would work, and whether his administration has consulted with regiošnal partners about the proposed plan.
About 130 hostages, including five US citiš§zens, are still being held captive by Hamas, nearly seven months into the war.