IOWA —
Donald Trump promised on Monday that if
elected president again, he would bar immigrants who support Hamas from
entering the U.S. and send officers to pro-Hamas protests to arrest and deport
immigrants who publicly support the Palestinian militant group.
اضافة اعلان
During a campaign stop in Iowa, Trump was
responding to the Hamas killing of at least 1,300 Israelis that triggered a war
in which Palestinian health officials say
Israel has killed more than 2,800 Palestinians in Gaza, Reuters reported.
Trump, who served as president from 2017 to
2021, stated that if elected to a second White House term, he would ban entry
to the U.S. for anybody who does not believe in Israel's right to exist and
would revoke the visas of foreign students who are "antisemitic."
Step up travel bans from ‘terror-plagued
countries’
He also vowed to step up travel bans from
"terror-plagued countries." However, he did not explain how he would
enforce his demands, including the one requiring immigrants to support Israel's
right to exist under what he called "strong ideological screening."
Many of Trump's immigration policies were
challenged in court during his presidency, and his newest pledges could also
face challenges.
A ban he imposed on immigrants from some
Muslim-majority nations was struck down in lower courts but ultimately upheld
by the U.S. Supreme Court. President Biden ended that ban when he took office.
Ban immigrants anywhere that threatens our
security
Trump said on Monday that he would ban
immigrants from Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen "or anywhere else that
threatens our security." Trump also read a poem that he used to liken
immigrants to deadly snakes.
Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic
National Committee, described Trump's pledges as Islamophobic, extreme, and
designed to exploit "fear and anxiety."
Iowa is one of the earliest states to hold a
Republican presidential nominating contest. A tough approach to immigrants was
a cornerstone of Trump's first term as president.
He is the frontrunner to win his party's White
House nomination and take on Democratic President Joe Biden in the November
2024 election.
Promising to drastically tighten U.S.
immigration laws, Trump said: "If you want to abolish the state of Israel,
you're disqualified, if you support Hamas or the ideology behind Hamas, you're
disqualified, and if you're a communist, Marxist, or fascist, you are
disqualified."
Most of Trump's Republican rivals have
condemned Hamas and offered full-throated support for an expected Israeli
invasion of Gaza, but none has laid out such a tough series of proposals to
keep people out of and expel Hamas sympathizers from the U.S.
The United States, along with several other
countries, has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.
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