Two Jewish, pro-Israel House Democrats introduced a resolution on Tuesday condemning a bill that would expel Palestinians from the United States as “un-American” and “bigoted.”
The resolution, sponsored by Reps. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), responded to a bill that Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) introduced earlier in November. It would bar Palestinian passport holders from admission to the United States and revoke the visa and asylum status of some Palestinians who are already in the country.
“They’re trying to expel an entire community of people from the United States,” Landsman stated. “It’s un-American. It’s not who we are.”
Goldman added that “Calls to expel Palestinians from the United States are racist, xenophobic and have no place in the government of the United States.”
Alexa Helwig, Landsman’s communications director, told JNS that the two congressmen are seeking additional co-sponsors. Zinke’s bill, the Safeguarding Americans from Extremism (SAFE) Act, currently has 16 co-sponsors, all Republicans.
Zinke’s bill would bar further entry of Palestinians to the United States and also revoke the status of visa holders, asylum seekers and refugees who arrived in the United States after Oct. 1.
Zinke’s legislation is a necessary response to the Biden administration’s failures to properly vet people entering the country, the congressman told JNS in a statement.
“We have seen radical Islamic terrorists use legal immigration pathways to insert their jihadists in the United States and Europe to conduct attacks and I am not willing to take that risk,” Zinke said. “I will not compromise on American lives.”
“Democrats are so desperate to distract from Biden’s foreign-policy failures that they’re trying to start identity and culture wars while Biden’s weak leadership has the world in full-scale ground wars on multiple fronts,” the congressman added.
