(The Center Square) – Republicans are calling on the Biden administration to increase security at the northern border after the Canadian government began issuing visas to Gazans who may be connected to the terrorist organization Hamas.
The Canadian government’s program includes giving Gazans a “Refugee Travel Document,” which replaces their passport and is accepted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, enabling them to enter the U.S.
“However, with little to no reliable records or background checks of these individuals from the Palestinian Territories, these policies unlock opportunities for individuals with ties to terrorist groups to enter Canada, receive new forms of identification, and then try to enter the U.S. along the porous north border,” the Republican senators said. “Irrespective of Canada’s immigration policies, the U.S. should not waive common-sense terrorist screening and vetting for any individual entering the U.S. through other countries.”
While Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has claimed everyone entering the country, legally or illegally, is vetted, DHS Office of Inspector General reports have found the opposite to be true, The Center Square reported.
Because of the record number of known or suspected terrorists who’ve been apprehended at the U.S.-Canada border, over 1,000 since fiscal 2021, “the possibility of terrorists crossing the U.S.-Canada border is deeply concerning given the deep penetration of Gazan society by Hamas,” the senators said. “It would be irresponsible for the U.S. to not take necessary heightened precautions when foreigners attempt to enter the United States.”
They also requested Mayorkas provide them with information about Palestinians entering the country.
Under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the greatest number of terrorists have been apprehended in U.S. history, the majority of them at the northern border, The Center Square first reported.
In late May, the Canadian government announced it was increasing the number of temporary resident visas to Palestinians living in the Gaza strip who claim to be related to citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Gazans voted for Hamas in 2006, which holds a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council, the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority.
Hamas was designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. “It is the largest and most capable militant group in the Palestinian territories and one of the territories’ two major political parties,” according to the National Counterterrorism Center.
Hamas took credit for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel that killed more than 1,100 mostly civilians. The group kidnapped and held hostage over 200 people, including Americans. Hamas is still holding hostage roughly half of them.
Since the terrorist attack, antisemitism and violence escalated against Jews in America by nearly 400%. Multiple pro-Hamas groups organized riots and shut down college campuses throughout America. In response, several Jewish groups sued Palestinian groups in the U.S., arguing they are “collaborators and propagandists for Hamas” and attacking Jews and calling for their death isn’t protected speech.
Twenty-seven Republican U.S. senators, led by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called on the Biden-Harris administration to respond to the “outbreak of anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist mobs on college campuses.” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, also called on the president to cancel visas and immediately remove foreign nationals from the U.S. who support Hamas.
Biden instead issued a memo to expand measures to prevent “certain Palestinians” from being deported. Democrats also blocked any measure to deport pro-Hamas supporters.
Twenty-three attorneys general called on Congress to defund a UN agency reportedly funding and harboring Hamas terrorists.
Rubio and several of his colleagues called on the administration to “heighten precautions along the U.S.-Canada border.”
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Several House leaders, led by U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., requested Mayorkas provide information about “illegal aliens with terrorist ties illegally crossing the U.S. border,” including Palestinians with ties to Hamas.
Green, who chairs the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, requested the information after subpoenaing Mayorkas for CBP terrorist data in July. He sent the subpoena after he and the Republican chairs of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees sent several requests for terrorist related data and received no response.
A group of 21 Republican U.S. senators also demanded answers from Mayorkas on why illegal border crossers were being released into the U.S. who weren’t properly vetted and were later discovered to have alleged terrorist connections.
The House Judiciary Committee earlier this month issued a report detailing how Border Patrol agents were releasing known or suspected terrorists into the U.S., creating a national security crisis.
