Donald Trump’s on Monday vowed that if re-elected as president, he would ban immigrants who support Hamas from entering the US and send officers to pro-Hamas protests to arrest and deport immigrants who openly support the Palestinian militant group.
While campaigning in Iowa, Trump responded to Hamas’ killing of at least 1,300 Israelis that sparked a war in which Palestinian health officials say Israel has killed more than 2,800 Palestinians in Gaza.
Trump, president from 2017-2021, said that if elected to a second term in the White House, he would ban entry to the US by anyone who does not believe in He also promised to increase travel bans from “terror-stricken countries.” He did not explain how he would enforce his demands, including demands requiring immigrants to support Israel’s right to exist under what he called “strong ideological filtering.”
Many of Trump’s immigration policies have been challenged in court during his presidency and his latest promises could also face challenges.
Bans he imposed on immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries were overturned in lower courts but ultimately upheld by the US Supreme Court. Biden ended the ban when he took office.
Trump, Monday, October 16, 2023, said that he would ban immigrants from Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen “or other countries that threaten our security”. Trump also read a poem he used to liken immigrants to deadly snakes.
Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, described Trump’s pledge as Islamophobic, extreme and designed to exploit “fear and anxiety.”
Iowa was one of the earliest states to hold a Republican presidential nominating contest
Tighten Immigration Laws
Trump is the strongest candidate to win his party’s White House nomination and face Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election.
He promised to drastically tighten US immigration laws and said: “If you want to abolish the state of Israel, you will be disqualified, if you support Hamas or the ideology behind Hamas, you will be disqualified, and if you are a communist, Marxist or fascist , you are disqualified.”
Most of Trump’s Republican rivals have denounced Hamas and offered full support for Israel’s planned invasion of Gaza, but none has put forward a series of tough proposals to keep people out and expel Hamas sympathizers from the US.
The United States and several other countries have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of Trump’s Republican rivals for the presidential nomination, said Monday he supports deporting foreign students who support Hamas and would ban Gaza refugees from entering the US if elected president.
Trump last week accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being unprepare for a Hamas attack and called Hezbollah – the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group – “very smart.” His remarks in Iowa appeared to be an attempt to blunt that criticism.
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