As Israel readies for its seemingly imminent invasion of the Gaza Strip, one which it has indicated it wants to be destructive enough to solve the Hamas problem for the indefinite future, concern for many is where innocent civilians from the area will go as the campaign grinds through the densely populated territory.
Predictably, the pro-migration crowd rallied behind the idea of allowing the refugees to resettle in Western Europe and America, where they would be guaranteed expensive social services, instead of requiring they stay in bordering countries and then return to Gaza after the campaign’s conclusion.
Fortunately, the GOP has generally rallied against such an idea, with Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn putting her opposition to such a policy quite plainly during a recent interview with Breitbart News personality Mike Slater.
That came when Slater asked her, “Should we, the United States, take in refugees from Gaza?” Responding, Sen. Blackburn said that America should not do that and that instead the countries in the region should have to take in the now-homeless Gazans.
Explaining that, she told Slater, “No, we should not. The countries in the region need to do this. They should step up and accept these refugees. We do not need to take any of these Palestinian refugees into the United States.”
Slater then brought up the usual claim about immigration to America from the third world, quoting the infamous Emma Lazarus poem, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” Doing so, Slater asked, “But what about the Statue of Liberty and the poor, tired, huddled masses?”
Blackburn wasn’t having it. Responding, she said, “Of course, people know that the U.S. is the most generous country there is when it comes to accepting people from other countries. That’s why we are called the melting pot. When you look at what is happening in Palestine, when you look at what this attack from Hamas, which is a part of the government. and when you look at the immigration papers, where you have to note that you have not been fighting against the United States, we should not take individuals until this is all settled. These individuals who are fleeing Gaza need to be going into Egypt, Jordan, and other Muslim countries that are in the region.”
Slater, for his part, pointed out that the neighboring countries don’t want the Gazans either, saying, “They clearly don’t want them. They outright say it will create demographic instability in our countries and we don’t want these people. They are very explicit about not wanting them, too.”
Indeed those countries do not want them. King Abdullah of Jordan, for example, said, “That is a red line, because I think that is the plan by certain of the usual suspects to try and create de facto issues on the ground. No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt.”
Republicans in the House just introduced the “Guaranteeing Aggressors Zero Admission Act” or the GAZA Act, which would prevent Biden’s administration from issuing visas to those with Palestinian Authority passports in an attempt to keep Palestinians out of the country.
Defending the bill, Rep. Tom Tiffany, one of those who introduced it, said, “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. 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.”
Featured image credit: By Team Marsha – https://www.flickr.com/photos/marshaforsenate/43153232094/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85091886
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