DeSantis and Trump Vow Ban on Refugees from Gaza While Haley Says 'Separate Civilians from Terrorists'
As the possibility of a refugee wave from Gaza looms, the issue is dividing Republican presidential candidates.
On Saturday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took a strong stand against allowing any Gaza refugees into America. Former President Donald Trump addressed the issue Monday, saying he would expand his travel ban to block anyone from Gaza from entering the United States.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, however, countered that America should find a way to separate civilians from terrorists in deciding who to let into the country.
“I don’t know what Biden’s going to do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees,” DeSantis said during an Iowa campaign event, according to NBC.
“If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all anti-Semitic. None of them believe in Israel’s right to exist,” he said.
I’ve been very clear: The U.S. should not be absorbing any Gaza refugees. Neighboring Arab nations should open their borders and absorb them.
Every Republican presidential candidate should follow suit. pic.twitter.com/0iQDsHptoG
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) October 15, 2023
After hearing that former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson scoffed at the anti-Semitic claim, DeSantis doubled down on it.
“I will challenge anyone to say that in some of these countries that virulent anti-Semitism is not the norm,” DeSantis said, adding, “If you’re not willing to acknowledge that, then you’ve got your head in the sand.”
“We cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees,” he said in a video clip posted to X.
On Monday, Trump said he would block anyone from Gaza from entering the U.S. and include it in an expanded version of the travel ban he imposed during his term in office.
“We aren’t bringing in anyone from Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen or Libya or anywhere else that threatens our security,” Trump said at an Iowa campaign event, according to NBC.
Trump: “I banned refugees from Syria, I banned refugees from Somalia, very dangerous places, and from all the most dangerous places all over the world, I banned them … In my second term we’re going to expand each and every one of those bans.” pic.twitter.com/Dafy7Fa6Pk
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) October 16, 2023
“I banned refugees from Syria. I banned refugees from Somalia — very dangerous places — and from all of the most dangerous places all over the world, I banned them. In my second term, we’re going to expand each and every one of those bans,” he said.
Trump said that a “strong ideological screening of all immigrants” would include whether a potential immigrant supports Hamas.
Trump further said he would send immigration agents to “pro-jihadist demonstrations” to remove those who were not citizens, using as an example the “mobs … literally barbarians that we saw in the streets of New York.”
Trump said he would “revoke the student visas of radical anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners at our colleges and universities.”
Haley said one-dimensional analysis does not grasp the complexity of the issue, according to CNN.
America “has always been sympathetic to the fact that you can separate civilians from terrorists,” she said.
Nikki Haley argues in support of bringing Gaza refugees to America:
“There are so many of these people who want to be free from this terrorist rule. They want to be free from all of that. And America’s always been sympathetic to the fact that you can separate civilians from… pic.twitter.com/76R4YPIKw1
— Never Back Down (@NvrBackDown24) October 16, 2023
“You have to realize that whether we’re talking about Gazans and Palestinians. All of them don’t — you have half of them at the time that I was there, didn’t want to be under Hamas’ rule. They didn’t want to have terrorists overseeing them. They knew that they were living a terrible life because of Hamas,” Haley said.
DeSantis responded by saying he would “speak the truth” while Haley was “trying to be politically correct” and “please the media,” according to NBC.
“I don’t care about that. I’m gonna speak the truth and let the chips fall where they may,” he said.
“In Gaza, they teach the kids to hate Jews. … This is embedded in the culture,” he said.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
