New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned the Department of Homeland Security that "we’re going to have a problem" after the department said they're looking into arresting three Democratic members of Congress who tried to tour an ICE detention center in New Jersey on Friday.
Ocasio-Cortez accused the Trump administration of unlawfully blocking New Jersey Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Robert Menendez and LaMonica McIver from visiting a detention facility where Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested on Friday.
Baraka was taken into custody for allegedly trespassing and refusing to leave the Delaney Hall facility, which he has fiercely opposed over permit concerns and its planned 1,000-bed capacity. He was released later that evening.
While Baraka declined to comment directly on the charges, citing legal advice, he reaffirmed his support for his community, including its immigrant population, stating, “At some point we have to stop these people from causing division between us.”
In response to the arrests, Ocasio-Cortez said:
"[DHS is using] public intimidation because they know they can't come for us all. Recently what they said is that DHS is looking into arresting members of Congress who were showing up for their legal and constitutional obligation to conduct oversight."
"If anyone's breaking the law in this situation, it's not members of Congress, it's the Department of Homeland Security. It’s people like Tom Homan and Secretary Kristi Noem."
"You lay a finger on someone—on Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman or any of the representatives who were there—you lay a finger on them, we are going to have a problem because the people who are breaking the law are the people who are not abiding by it."
"It is enshrined in the law that members of Congress who show up to ICE and CBP facilities are required to be granted access—legally required to be granted access—and they legally cannot be inhibited from accessing these facilities to conduct their constitutional obligation to investigate and conduct oversight."
"So if Kristi Noem wants to break the law, that's on her but it sure as hell is not Representative Robert Menendez that needs to be arrested."
You can hear what she said in the video below.
Many praised her for speaking out and criticized DHS in response.
Ocasio-Cortez's statements came just days after she dared border czar Tom Homan to "come for me" for exercising her right to free speech. Homan had questioned if Ocasio-Cortez is "impeding" the Trump administration's deportation efforts by informing people of their legal and constitutional rights.
Homan suggested that by educating immigrants about protections like the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, and protection against unlawful searches, Ocasio-Cortez was “impeding” ICE arrests. In a separate appearance, he went further, accusing her of “trying to teach” people “how to evade law enforcement.”
Ocasio-Cortez did not back down, stressing that she fully intends to use "my free speech rights to advise people of their constitutionally granted protections."
