After Biden Administration Permits Individuals Who Support Terrorism into U.S., Ernst Presses for Answers

RED OAK, Iowa—U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is joining her colleagues in pressing Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for answers about their Departments’ determination to make individuals who have provided “insignificant material support” or “limited material support” to terrorist organizations eligible for immigration to the United States.

“We write because the American people deserve an explanation regarding the broad, open-ended nature of this authority for exempting individuals who would otherwise be barred from immigration to the United States for supporting a terrorist organization,” Ernst and her colleagues write. 

Ernst and her colleagues go on to say: “In contrast, the June 8 determination is not limited to certain conflicts, terrorist organizations, geographic regions, or time periods. Instead, it “broadly permits the admission of foreign individuals who provided material support to terrorist organizations that the Biden Administration deems insignificant or limited. This could include, for example, current or former members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and IRGC-linked entities, which are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. service members in Iraq and Afghanistan. It could include individuals seeking asylum at the southern border.

Ernst requested that the Secretaries provide a timely explanation and justification for this broad new authority, which substantially changes U.S. immigration policy. The full letter can be found here.

Earlier this month, Ernst sent a letter to Secretary Mayorkas demanding answers on how his agency plans to secure the Southern border against potential terrorist infiltration.

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