Last week, Western Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke introduced the Safeguarding Americans from Extremism (SAFE) Act to prevent Palestinian terrorists from abusing the United States’ legal immigration system by requiring the Department of Homeland Security to implement a pause on all visas, refugee status and granting of asylum for individuals holding a passport issued by the Palestinian Authority (PA). It also revokes any entrance of covered aliens who were granted visas or entered the United States on or after October 1, 2023.
“This legislation keeps America safe. 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,” Zinke said. “This is the most anti-Hamas immigration legislation I have seen and it’s well deserved. Given the circumstances, the threats to our immigration system and the history of terrorists abusing refugee, asylum and visa processes all over the world, the requirements in this bill are necessary to keep Americans safe. This bill does exactly that.”
The SAFE Act would:
- Render Palestinian Authority passport holders (covered aliens) inadmissible to the U.S.
- Bar DHS Sec from granting immigrant/non-immigrant visas to covered aliens.
- Revoke visas issued to covered aliens on or after October 1.
- Bar DHS Secretary from granting covered aliens Temporary Protected Status.
- Bar DHS Secretary from granting future asylum or refugee status to covered aliens.
- Revoke Refugee or Asylum status for covered aliens if requested on or after October 1.
- Bar DHS Sec from paroling a covered alien.
- Revoke parole of covered aliens if paroled on or after October 1.
- Direct DHS with ICE/USCIS to identify and remove covered aliens without lawful status (including newly revoked status).
DEFINITIONS:
- Covered Alien – In this section, the term ‘‘covered alien’’ refers to an alien who is a holder of a passport or other travel document issued by the Palestinian Authority.
- Immigration/non-immigration Visa – Immigrant visas are issued to foreign nationals who intend to live permanently in the United States. Nonimmigrant visas are for foreign nationals wishing to enter the United States on a temporary basis – for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work, study, or other similar reasons.
- Temporary Protected Status – A program that allows migrants whose home countries are considered unsafe the right to live and work in the United States for a temporary, but extendable, period of time.
- Refugee Status – An individual located outside of the United States. Is of special humanitarian concern to the United States. Demonstrates that they were persecuted or fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.
- Parole – Allows an individual, who may be inadmissible or otherwise ineligible for admission into the United States, to be paroled into the United States for a temporary period.
CURRENT COSPONSORS:
Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Bill Posey (R-FL), Barry Moore (R-AL), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ)
Daily Mail:“An asylum seeker, who is said to have wanted to avenge the deaths of people in Gaza, has carried out a suspected terror attack in Britain, it was claimed last night. The man, who came to the UK in 2020, told police that he had done it for ‘Palestine’, according to The Telegraph.”
Daily Mail: “Mohamad Barakat could have slaughtered HUNDREDS if cop-killing Syrian gunman’s mass-shooting hadn’t been foiled by North Dakota police who killed him, state AG says.” Gunman Mohamad Barakat, who moved to the US in 2012 as an asylum seeker, was on his way to carry out an attack in Fargo at a parade or during the town’s summertime festivities in July.
ABC News: “The Department of Justice announced the arrest of a Syrian refugee on Wednesday in connection with an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack on a Christian church in Pittsburgh. Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, 21, was accused by federal prosecutors in court documents filed on Wednesday of planning to attack a church on the north side of Pittsburgh, the Legacy International Worship Center, “to support the cause of ISIS and to inspire other ISIS supporters in the United States.”
The New York Times: “Syrian Refugee Charged with Attempted Murder After Stabbing in France. A homeless Syrian man in his 30s was charged with attempted murder and detained in France on Saturday in connection with a violent stabbing attack this past week that injured two adults and four young children, a prosecutor said.”
Fox News: CBP circulated a staff memo warning “Foreign fighters motivated by ideology or mercenary soldiers of fortune may attempt to obfuscate travel to or from the US to or from countries in the Middle East through Mexico. It warns of possible indicators, including military-age males, the possession of military gear, single travelers, an undetermined return plan and an association with the region.
NY Post: We must limit PA nationals when we can because “Among the more than 249,000 DHS-approved walkover entries from May 2021 through August 2023 were more than 7,300 immigrants from dozens of nations the United States has long tagged as “countries of national security concern” whose immigrants required enhanced terrorism security screening — “special-interest aliens,” or SIAs.”
Foreign Policy Magazine: We must be preemptive in our defense as there has been “an alarming uptick in terrorist activity in Europe, with Western intelligence chiefs warning that Islamist extremists, jihadis, and antisemites, inspired by Hamas’s bold attack, could be looking for new ways to attack Western targets.”
