A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman threatened to arrest “Squad” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) if she carries out her most recent anti-Trump pledge. The Bronx Democrat would be arrested if she pulls “the same kind of stunt” as other Democratic politicians who have recently obstructed U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement’s efforts to house illegal immigrants suspected of violent crimes, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News viewers on Monday.
“I believe that’s definitely a possibility if she trespasses and attacks law enforcement, as we witnessed earlier. According to what we’ve heard, many Democrats claim that they are merely carrying out oversight, specifically congressional oversight,” McLaughlin stated on “The Bottom Line.” In response to the news that Ras Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, had been arrested by federal authorities, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared a video selfie on Instagram on Sunday. After a heated altercation with ICE officers outside an immigration facility after he was refused entry, Baraka was taken into custody.
Baraka was arrested after he “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center,” according to U.S. Attorney Alina Habba for the District of New Jersey. Later, DHS officials recounted a tumultuous scene in which Baraka joined riot starters who were trying to “storm” the facility’s gates, resulting in a physical altercation. Democratic Representatives LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), and Rob Menendez Jr. (D-NJ) were also on the scene.
“We are aware that’s nonsense because we would have gladly provided them with a tour if they had asked us, David,” McLaughlin remarked. We have provided the public with guidelines, one of which is that if they would like a tour of the facility, they must give us at least 24 hours’ notice. Therefore, once more, this is all political scheming, and our law enforcement officers’ safety is not at stake.
Coleman later claimed that the lawmakers were “escorted” in after being present to “exercise their oversight authority.” However, the Daily Caller noted that in her video, AOC threatened to “problematize” ICE and DHS agents if they “lay a finger” on “Coleman or any of the representatives.” “There will be an issue if you touch Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman or any of the other representatives present.”
The immigration agency made bodycam footage of a heated exchange between the two parties public a day after Baraka was arrested. ICE charged McIver with “assaulting an ICE agent” in a statement. The detainees are suspected or convicted of serious crimes, such as “rapists, child predators, MS-13 gang members, and even suspected terrorists,” McLaughlin added, defending the practice of housing illegal immigrants at the Delaney Hall facility.
