DHS Warns AOC of Possible Arrest Over Potential Interference at ICE Facility Following Her Viral Threat
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has drawn a direct warning from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after suggesting she may take action similar to that which led to the recent arrest of a Democratic mayor outside an immigration facility.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, told Fox News that if Ocasio-Cortez attempts to interfere with federal immigration enforcement in the same manner as Democratic Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka, she could be subject to arrest.
“If she trespasses and if she assaults law enforcement officers, as we saw earlier, I think that’s certainly on the table,” McLaughlin said during an appearance on “The Bottom Line,” per Trending Politics.
“As far as we’ve heard, a lot of Democrats make the argument that they’re just conducting oversight, congressional oversight.”
The remarks follow the arrest of Baraka outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in New Jersey, as Resist the Mainstream highlighted last week.
Alina Habba, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, confirmed the arrest, stating that Baraka “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center.”
According to DHS officials, Baraka was part of a group that tried to push into the facility and clashed with agents on-site.
A statement from the department described the incident as a chaotic confrontation where Baraka and others “stormed” the gates after being denied entry.
Bodycam footage released by ICE one day later showed a confrontation between lawmakers and ICE personnel. In that same statement, the agency alleged that Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) assaulted an ICE officer during the incident.
Reps. Rob Menendez Jr. (D-NJ), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and McIver were reportedly present alongside Baraka during the incident.
Coleman later released a statement asserting that the lawmakers were on site to “exercise their oversight authority” and said they were ultimately “escorted” into the facility.
Ocasio-Cortez reacted to the event by posting a video on Instagram in which she addressed ICE and warned of consequences if further physical contact occurred between federal officers and any of the attending lawmakers.
“You lay a finger on Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman or any of the representatives that were there, you lay a finger on them, and we’re going to have a problem,” Ocasio-Cortez said in the video.
McLaughlin responded by saying DHS has procedures in place for lawmakers to visit facilities and emphasized that the group in question had not followed them.
“There are public guidelines that we have offered, including that they need to notify us 24 hours in advance if they would like a tour of the facility,” she said.
“So, again, this is all political gamesmanship, and we’re not playing with the safety of our law enforcement officers.”
The Delaney Hall facility in question is being used to house individuals suspected or convicted of serious crimes, according to TP.
“They are suspected or convicted of being rapists, child predators, an MS-13 gang member, even a suspected terrorist,” McLaughlin said.
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Frigging demoncrat dumbasses!!!!
She should already be in prison
AOC is nothing more than a barmaid. She and anyone who wants to harbor criminals should be arrested. How many Americans have been murdered and robbed ? How many American women and young girls have been raped and molested ? Are American victims just collateral damage to democrats ?