Muslim Democrats Andre Carson, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar say they are “horrified” by GOP plans that would halt Palestinian legal immigration to the United States.
This week, Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and other House Republicans introduced legislation to ban the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from providing green cards, visas, refugee status, and parole to Palestinians.
Zinke’s legislation also would revoke visas for Palestinians in the United States, thus making them eligible for deportation.
“This legislation keeps America safe,” Zinke said of the legislation. “I don’t trust the Biden Administration any more than I do the Palestinian Authority to screen who is allowed to come into the United States.”
In response, Carson, Tlaib, and Omar issued a joint statement where they called Zinke’s legislation “xenophobic, punitive, and [an] unconstitutional measure.”
“As the three Muslim Members of Congress, we are horrified by Rep. Ryan Zinke’s recently introduced bill to pause all visas, refugee status, and granting of asylum for individuals holding a passport issued by the Palestinian Authority indefinitely — and to revoke others,” they said:
Let’s be clear: using the full power of the state to target and persecute a particular ethnic group or nationality is fascism and pure bigotry. This legislation—by a former cabinet official no less—directly violates the U.S. Constitution, and would illegally destroy the lives of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian immigrants who live in and contribute to American society. Though intended to target Muslims, this bill will also hurt Palestinian Christians, who will be targeted by these provisions. History will harshly judge this xenophobic, punitive, and unconstitutional measure. [Emphasis added]
…
We call on the leadership of both parties to vocally and specifically condemn these comments and legislation, to make clear that anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate has no place in our politics, and to name it when it happens. [Emphasis added]
Despite claims that Zinke’s legislation is “unconstitutional,” the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. Hawaii that the president has extraordinarily broad discretion under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(f) to exclude aliens when he believes doing so is in the nation’s interests.
Since Zinke introduced the legislation, House and Senate Democrats have sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to provide Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) to Palestinians in the United States — a policy that the far-left Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is currently lobbying for.
Giving TPS and DED to Palestinians would ensure they cannot be deported from the United States.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
