Tom Homan, President Donald Trump‘s border czar, mocked Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday in connection to the criminal charges one of Ocasio-Cortez’s Democratic colleagues is facing.
Ocasio-Cortez recently said there would be a “problem” if the Trump administration arrested any of her coworkers, to which Homan responded: “I’m waiting on the consequences.”
The Context
New Jersey Representative LaMonica McIver was criminally charged in connection to a scuffle that broke out this month when she, two other House Democrats and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka were visiting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark, New Jersey.
Two days later, Ocasio-Cortez posted a video on Instagram saying the Trump administration would face a “problem” if its officials arrested any of the House Democrats who were at the facility.
McIver, Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman and Representative Rob Menendez have said they were at Delaney Hall detention center to perform their congressional oversight duties.
Alina Habba, the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, announced criminal charges against McIver on May 19; the New Jersey Democrat is accused of attacking ICE agents, an allegation she has vehemently denied.
What To Know
Homan mocked Ocasio-Cortez in connection to McIver’s charges during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Wednesday.
“Well, remember just a couple of weeks ago, AOC went on social media saying if we put a finger on any of her coworkers—congresspeople—that were at our Newark facility, there’d be consequences,” Homan said, referring to Ocasio-Cortez by her popular nickname. “Well, guess what? We did it. I’m waiting on the consequences.”
Ocasio-Cortez accused Homan and other top Trump administration officials of violating the law in her video.
“If anyone’s breaking the law in this situation, it’s not members of Congress, it’s the Department of Homeland Security,” the New York Democrat said. “It’s people like Tom Homan and [Homeland Security] Secretary Kristi Noem.”
Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most progressive members of the House of Representatives, who the White House recently described as the “leader” of the Democratic Party, went on to accuse the Department of Homeland Security of employing “public intimidation” tactics to silence critics.
“You lay a finger on someone, on Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman … or any of the representatives that were there, you lay a finger on them, we are going to have a problem,” Ocasio-Cortez said in the Instagram video. “Because the people who are breaking the law are the people not abiding by it.”
Ocasio-Cortez posted the video after DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin suggested that Coleman, Menenedez and McIver could be arrested over the Delaney Hall visit. A little over a week after the video was posted, Habba announced the charges against McIver.
Ocasio-Cortez has gone on a tear against the Trump administration since President Donald Trump took office in January. Earlier Wednesday, she renewed her longtime call to “abolish ICE,” saying in a fundraising email that ICE, “an agency that was just formed in 2003 during the Patriot Act era, is a rogue agency that should not exist.”
The White House attacked Ocasio-Cortez over the email, slamming “the Democrat Party leader” for demanding the agency be dismantled.
Ocasio-Cortez’s call to abolish ICE comes after the agency recently surpassed Border Patrol in arrests amid Trump’s pressure to ramp up deportations.
The administration is also embroiled in court battles across the country challenging Trump’s authority to deport migrants without due process—many of whom have not been convicted of crimes—and terminate the legal status of international students who protest the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed tens of thousands of civilians.
What People Are Saying
A group of 10 former GOP lawmakers excoriated the Trump administration over the charges against McIver, saying in a statement last week: “The constitutional duties of Members of Congress include not only passing legislation but also oversight of executive branch implementation of those laws. That is an essential dimension of American checks and balances. Rep. Mclver was present at the ICE facility as part of her official congressional duties. We believe this extreme response to the events of that day is unwarranted.”
Paul Fishman, McIver’s lawyer, called the charges against her “spectacularly inappropriate,” saying in a statement: “She went to Delaney Hall to do her job. As a member of Congress, she has the right and responsibility to see how ICE is treating detainees.”
He added: “Rather than facilitating that inspection, ICE agents chose to escalate what should have been a peaceful situation into chaos. This prosecution is an attempt to shift the blame for ICE’s behavior to Congresswoman McIver.”
What Happens Next
McIver said she intends to fight the charges against her in court. Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina also recently filed a resolution to expel McIver from Congress, which the New Jersey Democrat later mocked on social media.
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