GOP lawmaker says US shouldn’t take in Gaza refugees, but focus on its own border 

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) argued on Saturday that the U.S. shouldn’t take in refugees from Gaza amid fighting between militant group Hamas and Israel, and should instead focus on its own border.

“We should NOT take in 1 million refugees from Gaza—a region prone to terrorism and anti-semitism,” Biggs said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Where is the focus on our own southern border?”

Biggs’ comments are similar to those made by fellow Republican governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (Fla.) on the same day. 

“I don’t know what [President] Biden’s gonna do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees,” DeSantis said during a campaign stop in Iowa.

“I am not going to do that,” he added. “If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all antisemitic. None of them believe in Israel’s right to exist.”

Both politicians’ words come ahead of a possible ground offensive by Israel into Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces have gathered troops and equipment near the Gaza border.

Recent fighting between Israel and Hamas has now reached the length of a week, with over 3,200 dead in its wake, according to The Associated Press. Some 1 million people in Gaza were ordered to evacuate from the north to the southern part of the territory Friday. The territory is already facing a blackout and Israeli airstrikes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the front lines near Gaza on Saturday. 

“With our fighters in the Gaza Strip, on the front line,” Netanyahu said in a post on X Saturday. “We are all ready.”