The White House has reportedly been considering whether or not to accept Palestinians from Gaza as refugees amid Israel’s war with Hamas.
According to internal federal documents obtained by CBS News, senior officials in the Biden administration and U.S. agencies have “discussed the practicality of different options to resettle Palestinians from Gaza who have immediate family members who are American citizens or permanent residents.”
The documents show that welcoming Palestinians under the United States Refugee Admissions Program has been proposed as a means to bring people into the country from war-torn Gaza. CBS News added:
Top U.S. officials have also discussed getting additional Palestinians out of Gaza and processing them as refugees if they have American relatives, the documents show. The plans would require coordination with Egypt, which has so far refused to welcome large numbers of people from Gaza.
Potential refugees would need to pass various security and medical screenings before they could be granted access to the United States and the numerous benefits associated with refugee resettlement in the country, including permanent residency, housing assistance, and a pathway to American citizenship.
While exact numbers are difficult to estimate, local public health officials say as many as 34,000 Palestinians have died in the Gaza conflict, while several hundred thousand have been displaced from their homes. Egypt and other neighboring countries in the region have refused to take in refugees. Israel launched its incursion into Gaza following the horrific October 7 terrorist attack at the hands of Hamas last year, which killed over 1,200 Israelis, most of whom were civilians, including women and children.
The White House Department of Homeland Security and the State Department have not commented on the report about the United States looking to import Palestinian refugees.
“The proposals to resettle certain Palestinians as refugees would mark a shift in longstanding U.S. government policy and practice. Since its inception in 1980, the U.S. refugee program has not resettled Palestinians in large numbers,” noted CBS News.
“Over the past decade, the U.S. has resettled more than 400,000 refugees fleeing violence and war across the globe. Fewer than 600 were Palestinian. In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. welcomed 56 Palestinian refugees, or 0.09% of the more than 60,000 refugees resettled during those 12 months, State Department statistics show,” it added.
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