Ernst, Republican colleagues call on Biden to rethink Gazan refugees plan

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) led 34 of her GOP colleagues in calling on President Joe Biden to reconsider his reported plan for accepting Gazan refugees, a move they say 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 Sen. Ernst and the lawmakers in a May 1 letter sent to Biden. 

“We are further worried that accepting Gazan refugees might cause a crisis at the Egypt-Gaza border, leading to chaos that would only empower Iran-backed Hamas,” according to their letter.

At the same time, the senators wrote that they are “also frustrated” that the 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,” they wrote. 

Among the lawmakers who joined Sen. Ernst in signing the letter was U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).

The senators requested that Biden answer several questions, including how many Gazan refugees the administration plans to accept into the U.S.; how many refugees would be Gazans who have already fled to Egypt; how many would be Gazans still located in the Gaza Strip; and how the administration plans to implement a screening mechanism to ensure that those with terrorist links or sympathies are not accepted as refugees into the U.S.

They also want to know how the U.S. plans to pay for the cost of transport, screening, medical support, and temporary lodging of the Gazan refugees, among other questions.

Sen. Ernst and her colleagues asked Biden to provide them with answers by May 15, and to “redirect your efforts to saving the Americans who are still held hostage in Gaza.”

“Our first obligation should be to rescue our own citizens, not Gazans,” they wrote.