US Response to the Terror State of Hamas-stan Should Include Immediate Immigration Denial

By Bill West

The Palestinian people have voted and duly elected a government in their territories that will be dominated and controlled by an internationally recognized terrorist organization (FTO), Hamas. Realistically, Israel may quickly decide to respond to this with severe unilateral security measures that will surely include a stronger clampdown on the ability of Palestinians to cross Israeli borders. Philosophically, the Israelis cannot be blamed for taking such measures.

Most Palestinians may view Hamas as something other than a terrorist organization, but from an American perspective, does that or should that really matter? All the arguments of �living under occupation� aside, we should remember that it was Chief Palestinian Terrorist Yasser Arafat who turned down a genuine offer of a real Palestinian state and potential peace during the waning days of the Clinton Administration. From any rational perspective, for a very long time, the de facto Palestinian �state� has been a Mid-East welfare state living on the largesse of international donors such as the United States and the European Union.

It appears the best the �occupied� Palestinian masses could collectively manage all these years under the Palestinian Authority was to allow that so-called leadership to corruptly and fraudulently steal away the bulk of the international charity that was bestowed upon them. Of course, the radical Islamists in their midst in the meantime managed to elevate suicide bombers and mass murderers to some form of macabre cult status. These are supposed to be accomplishments of national pride?

Now they have elected members of their largest terrorist-murdering sect as their official political representatives. And the Palestinian people really expect things to get better? The initial reactions from US and European leaders are at least encouraging. They are signaling that financial aid to the Palestinian terror government will likely be cut. Let�s hope sanity rules and it really is.

Along with that, let�s also hope US immigration law enforcement authorities remember Section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, otherwise known as U.S. Code: Title 8 Section 1182. This section of Federal law specifically relates to excluding aliens from entering the United States who, among other things, are representatives of terrorist organizations. The definition of �representative� is as follows:

(v) ''Representative'' defined
As used in this paragraph, the term ''representative''
includes an officer, official, or spokesman of an
organization, and any person who directs, counsels, commands,
or induces an organization or its members to engage in
terrorist activity.

It would appear there could be little argument about the 76 newly elected Hamas parliamentarians fitting the definition of �representative� of a terrorist organization for the purposes of US immigration law; at least those who are not US citizens.

As such, and as Israel will no doubt do, US law enforcement authorities should immediately place every one of the newly elected Hamas representatives on US visa denial and immigration watch lists so they are denied US visas and entry into the United States.

Should any of those new Hamas representatives turn out to be either naturalized or native-born US citizens, and that is a possibility, further investigation by the appropriate US agencies would be warranted. Minimally, potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and providing material support to a FTO might be in play. In the case of a naturalized US citizen, depending on when that person naturalized and when they became involved with Hamas, did they lie about such involvement on their naturalization petition documents and therefore commit fraud in such proceedings? US authorities, hopefully, will review such matters.

The West must deal with the government of the new Terror State of Palestine. The US Government should make certain none of their representatives are able to legally set foot in America.

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