Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) attacked Republicans on Friday, accusing them of “crimes against humanity” for taking immigrants to the residence of VP Kamala Harris last week.
Ocasio-Cortez stated the “trafficking” of immigrants who unlawfully entered the southern frontier of the US was “abuse,” but she did not name any specific politicians.
Ocasio-Cortez stated in a tweet it is disgusting that politicians on the far right appear to have decided the fall preceding an election is their time to perpetrate human rights violations on refugees.
She claims this behavior, which she defines as lying to people and trafficking them for television and online clicks, is not politics as usual and should not be accepted.
It’s appalling that far-right politicians seem to have decided that fall before an election is their regularly scheduled time to commit crimes against humanity on refugees.
Don’t normalize this. Lying to & trafficking people for TV and clicks isn’t politics as usual. It’s abuse.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 16, 2022
“We’re All Illegal Immigrants”
The tweet made reference to the decision of Texas Governor Greg Abbott to bring immigrants to the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, as well as the choice made by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to transfer immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Abbott transported additional immigrants to the Naval Observatory, where Harris dwells, via bus.
Ocasio-Cortez stated what Republican officials fail to see is not everyone has the same perspective of there being a scarcity of resources and a zero-sum game.
She stated many recognize immigrants and refugees as a boon. They have a lot to give our country; a significant portion of our progress as a nation may be attributed to the contributions that they have made.
In a series of tweets on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez urged people not to refer to immigrants who unlawfully came into the country as “illegal,” arguing the majority of people’s ancestors unlawfully entered the country in the past.
By today’s standards, most US families would have be deemed undocumented or trafficked at some point in their family history.
For the most part, people didn’t need lawyers and years of processing to come to this US until immigration became a racialized issue. Remember that
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 16, 2022
Ocasio-Cortez stated in a tweet that based on today’s criteria, the majority of American families at some point in their ancestry would have been classified as illegal or as victims of trafficking.
She went on to say before immigration became a racially charged issue, most people did not require lawyers and years of procedure to enter the United States.
Busing Immigrants
The tweets follow a suggestion by Ocasio-Cortez that Abbott rethinks his career choice because he seemed to be “having difficulties at his work.”
According to data from the Texas governor’s office, Abbott has been under fire from opponents on the left for sending 7,900 immigrants to Washington since April and over 2,200 immigrants to NYC since August, as part of “Operation Lone Star.”
Recently, Texas added Chicago to its list of possible destinations for immigrant workers, and the state already sent more than 300 people in that direction.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington DC, fired back at Abbott by calling the busing plan “a politically motivated spectacle.”
She just launched an office in response to the massive influx of Texans into the city and unsuccessfully sought operational assistance from the National Guard.
This article appeared in NewsHouse and has been published here with permission.
