On Tuesday night, reports revealed that the Biden administration was looking into bringing over Palestinian refugees from Gaza as the Israel-Hamas conflict rages on. The reaction has been swift and severe. On Thursday morning, Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) led many of her colleagues in sending a letter to President Joe Biden expressing concern and demanding answers.
The letter quickly gets to the point. "Your administration’s reported plan to accept Gazan refugees 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," it begins.
In their opening, the senators issue another infuriating reminder, which is that there are Americans still among the hostages that Hamas took on October 7. "We 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 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," the letter reads.