GOP bill seeks to ban and deport visa holders who support Hamas amid wave of antisemitic violence in America
FIRST ON FOX: New legislation would broadly ban any visa holders who support Hamas or other designated terror groups from remaining in the U.S.
The Terrorist Inadmissibility Codification Act, led by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, expands current law under the Immigration and Nationality Act to ban any members of Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda, ISIS and Palestine Islamic Jihad from entering or remaining in the U.S. – in addition to anyone who endorses or espouses the activity of these groups.
"There is no place in America for foreign adversaries or terrorist sympathizers. As our nation faces a disturbing rise in antisemitic and illegal alien terror attacks, along with increasing pro-Hamas sentiment on our college campuses," Pfluger said in a statement. "We must take action to ensure our borders are secure from those wishing harm against Americans."
The bill comes after a wave of antisemitic attacks in light of Israel's offensive campaign in Gaza that followed Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks.
The Trump administration has started revoking student visas of those who engage in pro-Gaza protest activity. The State Department paused new student visa interviews late last month while it restructures the vetting process.
The Immigration and Nationality Act already bars individuals who engage in terrorist activity, are members of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or who provide material support to such groups. However, much of this is interpreted on a case-by-case basis, often requiring evidentiary thresholds such as proof of direct involvement or financial or material aid. It is subject to the whims of administrative designations.
The Terrorist Inadmissibility Codification Act seeks to broaden these standards by codifying that mere endorsement or espousal of terrorist groups' ideology could be grounds for inadmissibility or deportation.
This could signal a shift from conduct-based immigration enforcement to speech- or association-based scrutiny: even those who are not formal members of foreign terrorist organizations could have their speech scrutinized for support of such groups.
An attack in Boulder, Colorado, on June 1 on a group gathered to raise awareness about hostages gathered in Gaza was the latest in a string of violence believed to be antisemitic in nature.
The suspect, Mohammed Sabry Soliman, told police he wanted to "kill all Zionist people" and is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators.
In May, a young Washington, D.C., couple was killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum by a suspect who shouted "free Palestine" following the shooting.
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