Graham blasts Ocasio-Cortez’s comparison of migrants to Jews in Nazi Germany: ‘I recommend she take a tour of the Holocaust Museum’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) slammed Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) for comparing events at the U.S.-Mexico border involving migrants to Jews fleeing the Holocaust in Nazi Germany.

“I recommend she take a tour of the Holocaust Museum in DC,” Graham tweeted Monday. “Might help her better understand the differences between the Holocaust and the caravan in Tijuana.”

I recommend she take a tour of the Holocaust Museum in DC.

Might help her better understand the differences between the Holocaust and the caravan in Tijuana. https://t.co/05vCexiClE

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) November 26, 2018

Graham was replying to a Sunday tweet in which Ocasio-Cortez wrote, “Asking to be considered a refugee & applying for status isn’t a crime.”

{mosads}”It wasn’t for Jewish families fleeing Germany,” she wrote. “It wasn’t for targeted families fleeing Rwanda. It wasn’t for communities fleeing war-torn Syria.

“And it isn’t for those fleeing violence in Central America.”

Asking to be considered a refugee & applying for status isn’t a crime.

It wasn’t for Jewish families fleeing Germany.
It wasn’t for targeted families fleeing Rwanda.
It wasn’t for communities fleeing war-torn Syria.
And it isn’t for those fleeing violence in Central America. https://t.co/qhv7Rr1itn

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 25, 2018

Along with her comments, Ocasio-Cortez retweeted an article describing how U.S. authorities used tear gas on hundreds of migrants near Tijuana who tried to enter the United States illegally. Mexican federal police tried to stop the group from charging the border, but failed to do so.

Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not respond to a request for comment regarding Graham’s criticism, but she did respond to the senator Monday evening on Twitter:

.@LindseyGrahamSC, the point of such a treasured museum is to bring its lessons to present day.

This administration has jailed children and violated human rights. Perhaps we should stop pretending that authoritarianism + violence is a historical event instead of a growing force. https://t.co/aGJMrPTqNT

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 27, 2018

The chief agent for San Diego Sector Border Control, Rodney Scott, told CNN on Monday that U.S. authorities arrested 42 individuals who pushed their way across the border. Scott said that the group attempting to force its way through the border was largely composed of adult men.

Mexico says it will deport around 500 immigrants who tried to enter the U.S. “violently” and “illegally.”

President Trump on Monday reiterated his call for a border wall, tweeting, “We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!”

—Updated at 8:08 p.m.