Trump rejects accepting Gaza refugees, calls for ideological screening for immigrants

Former President Trump on Monday vowed to oppose accepting refugees from Gaza and pledged to implement an ideological screening for those entering the United States if he is reelected in 2024 amid the conflict in Israel.

Trump was in Iowa for campaign events Monday, including a rally in Clive, where he addressed the violence playing out in the Middle East in the wake of Hamas terrorist attacks that left more than 1,000 Israelis dead and has sparked fears of a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“We aren’t bringing in anyone from Gaza or Syria or Somalia or Yemen, or Libya, or anywhere else that threatens our security,” Trump said, according to prepared remarks.

“Next, we will implement strong ideological screening for ALL immigrants to the United States,” he added.

If reelected, Trump said would seek to bar those who “empathize with radical Islamic terrorists and extremists” as well as communists, Marxists and fascists from gaining residency in the United States.

“In addition, we will aggressively deport resident aliens with jihadist sympathies,” Trump said, according to prepared remarks.

Trump also reiterated his intention to reimpose a travel ban that targeted several majority-Muslim countries that was put into effect while he was in office after facing several court challenges.

The president’s rhetoric Monday in Iowa harkened back to his 2016 campaign, when he called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States following a 2015 shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. Those remarks at the time were widely condemned as xenophobic, including by several prominent Republican officials.

Trump is by far the front-runner in the Republican presidential primary for the party’s 2024 nomination, however, and his comments in Iowa are not out of place in the GOP.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is running in second behind Trump in several primary polls, similarly said over the weekend that the U.S. should not accept individuals fleeing Gaza as refugees.

Israeli forces are preparing for a major military offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks earlier this month. The military action comes against the backdrop of a burgeoning humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and where access to food, water and medical supplies has been strained.

Trump’s initial response to the violence in the Middle East drew criticism after he admonished Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of Hamas’s attacks and described the terrorist group Hezbollah as “very smart.”