Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, taunted Tom Homan on Friday after the border official threatened to report her to the Justice Department for guiding migrants about avoiding deportation.
At a Queens town hall gathering, Ocasio-Cortez expressed her lack of concern regarding the immigration official’s statements following her office’s “Know your Rights” webinar in February. Homan indicated her actions could be unlawful and might obstruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from executing the Trump administration’s deportation plans.
“Tom Homan said he was going to refer me to DOJ because I’m using my free speech rights in order to advise people of their constitutional protections. To that I say: Come for me, do I look like I care?” Ocasio-Cortez told a cheering crowd.
She stated there was “nothing illegal about it and if they want to make it illegal, they can come take me.”
In February, her office conducted a live webinar informing migrants in her district about their rights when confronted by deportation authorities.
Participants received advice about requesting warrants, documenting searches during ICE visits, and understanding the differences between various warrants ICE agents might present.
This prompted Homan to suggest the New York representative might be overstepping legal boundaries.
“I’m working with the Department of Justice and finding out. Where is that line that they cross? So maybe AOC is going to be in trouble now,” he said after the event.
“What she needs to do is read the statutes enacted by Congress… because it’s a crime to enter this country illegally,” the Trump border official stated separately on “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“Not only that, but when you harbour and conceal and impede law enforcement, that’s a felony. What she’s doing, she says she’s educating everybody on their constitutional rights, and we all know they’ve got constitutional rights, but what she’s really doing… she’s trying to teach them how to evade law enforcement.”
During Friday’s event, Ocasio-Cortez criticised the Trump administration’s border security and immigration policies, describing their deportation of Venezuelan gang members as “sanctioned kidnappings.”
“I don’t even want to call them deportations. They are sanctioned kidnappings in many circumstances,” the congresswoman told attendees. “They do not have carte blanche to enter. If they do want to knock on your door, or knock on anyone’s door — including your workplace — you can tell them, ‘Show me a warrant. Show me a judicial warrant.’ And if they don’t show you a warrant, you can say they can come back with a warrant. You have the right to turn them away.”
The congresswoman addressed hundreds in a packed auditorium, with additional attendees watching from an overflow room across the hall.
The audience responded positively to the progressive legislator, and except for one interruption, showed support for her legislative agenda and district representation. Questions focused on local matters, minimum wage increases, air quality improvements, and her strategy for addressing the Trump administration.
