Overview

• Rep. Ryan Zinke's proposed Safeguarding Americans from Extremism Act seeks to ban any foreign national with a Palestinian Authority (PA) passport or PA-issued travel document from entering the U.S. and revoke visas granted after October 1.
• The legislation is backed by 10 House Republicans and is described by Zinke as the 'most stringent anti-Gaza anti-Hamas immigration refugee bill ever.' Critics consider this an expansion of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim rhetoric from the right.
• The proposed legislation aims to halt the issuance of visas, asylum, and refugee statuses to Palestinians, and revoke these statuses if granted since October 1.
• Zinke justifies the action by asserting that the current administration has failed vetting processes, creating the potential for terrorist infiltration, a claim prompted by renewed scrutiny following Hamas' October attack on Israel.
• Critics highlight discrimination in the bill, pointing out that only around 2,000 Palestinians have been resettled in the U.S. in the past 20 years due to existing stringent immigration barriers.