'I believe in America': Fired-up Biden uses State of the Union to skewer GOP

Protesters are staging a sit-in on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Capitol ahead of Biden's speech -- demonstrating in support of the Palestinian civilians in Gaza suffering amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Biden has faced heavy criticism from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and many in the Arab American community over his response to the conflict, in which he has sought to balance his sympathy for civilians with support for Israel's campaign after Hamas' October terror attack.

Nonetheless, many critics have called on him to more forcefully push for an immediate stop to all fighting as conditions remain dire for civilians in the Gaza Strip. Cease-fire advocates have interrupted other Biden events in the past few months, including an abortion rights campaign rally in January.

Biden in his speech on Thursday night is expected to announce an "emergency" military mission to construct a pier in the Mediterranean Sea on Gaza's coast to get humanitarian aid into the area, according to senior officials.

Meanwhile, family members of Americans who thought to still be held by Hamas will be in the audience as guests of Republican lawmakers.

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Protesters line Pennsylvania Ave route to the US Capitol

The protestors are calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

ABCNews.com

Kate Cox, a Texas woman who had to go to New Mexico for an abortion after she and her doctor said her pregnancy could have threatened her life, explained how difficult her experience was to ABC News before attending the State of the Union as a guest of the president and first lady Jill Biden.

Cox said her fetus was diagnosed with trisomy 18, a condition described as incompatible with life, but had to go to New Mexico for an abortion after a court ruled that the procedure would violate Texas' ban.

"It was really heartbreaking because we were so excited for our third baby. It's the hardest news I've ever received," she told ABC News' Rachel Scott.

"And it's hard to walk around pregnant with a belly, especially usually with my other two kids, when people ask you, you know ... 'What are you having? Do you have a name? Are you going to have a baby shower?' It's really hard when, you know, how do you explain that there's not going to be a baby, that she'll never survive?"

As he told ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott he would, disgraced former Republican Rep. George Santos arrived to the House chamber on Thursday night about an hour before Biden's speech begins.

He was seen seated on the GOP side near the aisle -- his normal position when he was a voting lawmaker.

As a former member, Santos retains the privilege of accessing the House floor. He would need to be convicted of one of his criminal charges to be banned from the floor. He has pleaded not guilty.

-ABC News' John Parkinson

Republicans plan to keep an empty seat in memoriam of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed on the University of Georgia's Athens campus last month.

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., said he invited Riley's parents to be guests at the State of the Union though "they have chosen to stay home as they grieve the loss of their daughter."

Biden's address comes hours after the House passed the Laken Riley Act, which would require detention of any unauthorized migrant who commits burglary or theft.

The suspect charged in Riley's killing, Jose Antonio Ibarra, unlawfully entered the U.S. near El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was paroled and released for further processing, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said following his arrest in Georgia.

ICE said that Ibarra was subsequently arrested by New York City police in 2023 and released before federal officials could ask for his detention. The NYPD has said there is no arrest on file.

The Laken Riley Act passed the House 251-170, with 37 Democrats voting for it. Some opposing it believe Republicans are using Riley's death for their own political gain to place blame on the Biden administration's border policies as polling shows immigration is a top issue for some voters.