New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a Saturday tweet continued to insist that the Trump administration is “building mass concentration camps on the southern border.”
She and several Democratic colleagues in the House have moved to freeze funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP).
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez listens during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Apr. 10, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images)
Ocasio-Cortez urged rejection of an emergency border supplemental bill that would provide an additional $1.2 billion to USCBP and $128 to ICE. “We can’t do that. They’ve shown that when they get more money, they build more camps.” (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Says The US Is ‘Running Concentration Camps On Our Southern Border’)
The GOP has supported building mass concentration camps on the southern border. Kids & families are dying.
Now they want money for more – w/ ZERO negotiation on how $ is spent.
We can’t do that. They‘ve shown that when they get more money, they build more camps. #CloseTheCamps https://t.co/DYhXuU9Crz
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 22, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez issued a joint news release with her Democratic colleagues from the House, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, which vowed to withhold further funding for ICE and the USCBP.
(L-R) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Rep. Rashida Tlaib listen as Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Donald Trump, testifies before the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill February 27, 2019 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Tlaib claimed the funding freeze was necessary because of “abuses taking place on our own soil … ”
“We cannot turn our backs on the abuses taking place on our own soil, executed by our own government.”
A joint statement from @RepPressley, @Ilhan, @RepAOC, & I.
#NotOneDollar pic.twitter.com/Mdw7ezmBct— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) June 22, 2019
“These radicalized, criminal agencies are destroying families and killing innocent children,” reads the statement from the legislative quartet.
“It is absolutely unconscionable to even consider giving one more dollar to support this President’s deportation force that openly commits human rights abuses and refuses to be held accountable to the American people,” the group said.
Ocasio-Cortez has faced increasing criticism for her suggestion that the United States is operating “concentration camps,” including from Jewish groups who object to the Democratic congresswoman finding some moral equivalency between detention camps for illegal immigrants and concentration camps where Nazis imprisoned and killed innocent people. (RELATED: Acting ICE Director Calls Ocasio-Cortez Concentration Camp Comments ‘Reckless,’ AOC Doubles Down)
The joint news release returned to a theme that was popular with Democrats a year ago: the abolition of ICE.
“We must be equitable in our outrage. We must abolish ICE,” they wrote.
The four representatives also expressed their outrage over plans to deport illegal immigrants from major American cities over the weekend. But on Saturday President Donald Trump tweeted, “At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border.”
At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2019