Not that Joe Biden was ever interested in deporting them (or anyone else), the president yesterday issued a memorandum ordering DHS not to deport any (with a vanishingly few exceptions) Palestinians for the next 18 months. The memorandum says in part:
Following the horrific October 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel, and Israel’s ensuing military response, humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territories, and primarily Gaza, have significantly deteriorated. While I remain focused on improving the humanitarian situation, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Palestinians who are present in the United States.
In addition to being designated un-deportable, Palestinians within the U.S. are to be given work permits for the duration of the period.
The announcement comes in response to an avalanche of protests by pro-Palestinian groups, the total number of which are estimated at 1,869 and involving “hundreds of thousands” of protestors.
Citing U.S. Census figures, the World Population Review estimates that about 143,620 Palestinians currently live in the United States. No one knows how many of them are Hamas supporters, but NPR announced in December that support for the terrorist organization on the West Bank and Gaza had “surged” since the October 7 attack. Its support among Palestinians in the former went from 12 percent to 44 percent; support in Gaza, from 38 percent to 42 percent.
So far, more than 1.4 million people have been displaced inside Gaza since war erupted, according to the UN. Most of those displaced have resettled in Jordan and neighboring countries, though many Arab countries, such as Egypt, have refused to admit them, citing security concerns.
In this country, Democrats have for months expressed support for granting Palestinians in the U.S. the deferred deportation protection just announced, plus declaring natives of the Palestinian territories eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which — since some such designations have been around for decades — amounts in practice to permanent residency.
On the aisle’s other side, Sen. Steves Daines (R-MT) introduced the “Guaranteeing Aggressors Zero Admission Act” on October 17. This so-called “GAZA Act” would prevent the administration from granting visas to holders of Palestinian Authority passports and prevent the DHS allowing admittance to Palestinians through the (woefully abused) humanitarian parole program.
Though the U.S. government has considered Hamas a terrorist organization for decades, it prefers to think — or at least to want you to think — that only a few Palestinians support it. The rest are just the usual “huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.”
Right.