Tiffany introduces bill to prohibit U.S. entry of Palestinian refugees

Following the attack on Israel by Hamas and with Israel declaring war on the terrorist group, Northwoods U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wisconsin-7) has introduced legislation to ban the Biden administration from allowing refugees fleeing the Gaza Strip into the country.

Specifically, the bill by Tiffany and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tennessee) would prevent the Biden administration from issuing new visas or paroling holders of Palestinian Authority passports into the United States.

Tiffany says the U.S. needs to be especially vigilant now. 

“Following the horrific attack by Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists on innocent Israeli civilians, the last thing America ought to do is trust identity documents issued by the radicals that oversee these territories,” Tiffany said. “We need to put our security at home first and that starts by closing the door to bad actors who might be seeking to enter our country.”

Ogles said the threat of terrorism is not only grotesquely on display but being encouraged and justified.

“It is critical that we do our best to ensure the security of our nation,” Ogles said.

Tiffany’s office observed that Hamas is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, and runs Gaza with Fatah, whose leader, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, recently faced a torrent of global condemnation after he made outrageous statements about the Holocaust. 

Fatah operatives have cheered on violence against Israelis, calling for the “slaughter of anyone who is Israeli” and comparing Jews to “apes and pigs,” Tiffany’s office stated. 

“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 posted on X after introducing the bill. In an October 13 Tiffany telegram, the representative’s in-district newsletter, the congressman addressed the issue in more depth.

“This week all Americans watched in horror as Hamas terrorists — allegedly with backing from Iran — launched an unprovoked attack on innocent Israeli civilians,” Tiffany wrote. “As I write to you now, these barbaric attacks have left some 1,300 Israelis dead and more than 3,000 injured.”

Tiffany noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to his nation in a televised address this week, detailing the atrocities committed by Hamas: Concert goers gunned down, children murdered, people burned alive, and women raped.

It isn’t just Israelis touched by this grim parade of horrors, Tiffany wrote.

“At least 27 Americans have been killed and another 14 are missing — with many potentially among the more than 150 held by Islamic militants as hostages — hostages that Hamas is using as human shields, and whom they have threatened to execute publicly,” he wrote. “It’s appalling and it’s indefensible. And it is why lawmakers from both political parties came together to express support for Israel and condemn these barbaric attacks this week.”

Some Democrats also joined Republicans in pressing the Biden administration to block the disbursement of $6 billion that the White House moved to release to Iran as part of a controversial hostages-for-ransom scheme announced on September 11, Tiffany wrote.

“As encouraging as the outpouring of bipartisan support has been in recent days, a few far-left, fringe Members of Congress have made some shocking statements,” he wrote. “These lawmakers not only refused to unequivocally condemn the actions of Hamas, they even went so far as to imply that Israel is responsible for the violence. That isn’t just discouraging, it’s downright dangerous.”

Thankfully, Tiffany continued, their views are far removed from those of the vast majority of Americans, whom he said stand in solidarity with Israel and against Islamic terrorism.