Politics

Ocasio-Cortez Explains Decision To Vote Against Ending Government Shutdown On Instagram

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New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez voted against a short-term bill to reopen the government on Wednesday. She explained via Instagram stories that she opposed the bill because it contained Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) funding.

“Most of our votes are pretty straightforward, but today was a tough/nuanced call,” she wrote as the caption on the Instagram story video. “We didn’t vote with the party because one of the spending bills included ICE funding, and our community felt strongly about not funding that.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez via Instagram

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez via Instagram

Ocasio-Cortez has previously spoken out about her opposition to ICE. “A child died in ICE custody. The president should not be asking for more money to an agency that has systematically violated human rights. The president should be really defending why we are funding such an agency at all because right now what we are seeing is death,” she said after an 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died while in Border Patrol custody.