Biden considers accepting Palestinian refugees

Joe Biden is considering plans to allow some Palestinians fleeing the war in Gaza to enter the United States as refugees.

White House officials have in recent weeks been talking about options to resettle displaced Gazans with family members who are US citizens or permanent residents, according to government documents seen by CBS News.

The move would put the Biden administration at odds with his 2024 presidential rival Donald Trump, who has pledged to bar entry of all refugees from Gaza.

One of the proposals being considered involves using the decades-old United States Refugee Admissions Program to provide a lifeline for Palestinians with US relatives, who have managed to escape war-torn Gaza and enter neighbouring Egypt.

Officials have also discussed how to help additional qualifying Palestinians get out of Gaza and process them as refugees, the documents show.

American citizenship

Refugee status would be dependent on passing a series of eligibility, medical and security screenings.

It offers the beneficiaries permanent residency in the US, resettlement benefits such as housing assistance and, ultimately, a path to American citizenship.

The eligible population is expected to be relatively small and the plan would require coordination with Egypt, which has so far refused to take in large numbers of refugees from the latest Gaza conflict.

Palestinian officials claim Israel’s military campaign – in retaliation to the Hamas attack of Oct 7 – has killed more than 34,000 people in Gaza and displaced hundreds of thousands of residents.

Without addressing the specifics of any refugee plan, a White House spokesman told CBS News that the US “has helped more than 1,800 American citizens and their families leave Gaza, many of whom have come to the United States”.

They added: “At president Biden’s direction, we have also helped, and will continue to help, some particularly vulnerable individuals, such as children with serious health problems and children who were receiving treatment for cancer, get out of harm’s way and receive care at nearby hospitals in the region.”

The US Department of Homeland Security and the State Department are yet to comment on the refugee plan.

Shift in government policy

Carrying out any plan to resettle eligible Gazans as refugees would mark a shift in US government policy, which has not traditionally assisted Palestinians in large numbers.

According to CBS, the US has resettled more than 400,000 refugees fleeing violence and war across the globe over the past decade but fewer than 600 were Palestinian.

In 2023, the US welcomed 56 Palestinian refugees, 0.09pc of the more than 60,000 refugees resettled during those 12 months, according to State Department data.

If the plan to increase that number goes ahead, it is likely to provoke strong criticism from Republicans ahead of November’s election.

Mr Trump told a rally in Iowa last October that he would not allow refugees from Gaza to enter the US and he intends to reintroduce a Muslim travel ban – enacted during his presidency – if he wins another term at the White House.