Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) isn't pulling punches when it comes to President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement approach. In a fiery House floor speech this week, she accused the administration of breaking its campaign promises while wealthy elites allegedly funnel billions in public money toward aggressive detention programs.
The Numbers Don't Match The Rhetoric
Ocasio-Cortez posted her remarks to X on Tuesday, highlighting what she sees as a massive gap between what Trump promised voters and what's actually happening on the ground.
"President Trump ran on a promise to the American people that ICE would go after the worst of the worst," she said.
But here's the disconnect: "Over 70% of people currently detained in detention facilities do not have a criminal record."
According to the congresswoman, ICE is sweeping up children, students, permanent residents, and even U.S.-born citizens in its enforcement dragnet. She also pointed to suggestions from the Trump administration about revoking citizenship based on ethnicity, which raises some pretty serious constitutional questions.
Follow The Money, Says AOC
The real story, according to Ocasio-Cortez, isn't about border security at all. It's about who's profiting and how public money is being redirected.
"I want to remind you where the real crime is. It's in the oligarchs taking $170 billion dollar of of our money from health care and food assistance and public programs and taking that and funneling it into a secret police program," she said.
She argues that private prison contractors and wealthy elites are pushing a false narrative about immigrants being dangerous, all while building what she describes as a system designed to suppress dissent and concentrate power. Whether you buy that framing or not, the dollar figures involved are certainly eye-catching.
Legal Battles Heating Up
The immigration enforcement debate isn't staying confined to congressional speeches. Earlier this month, Joshua Aaron, the developer behind ICEBlock, sued the Trump administration after Apple (AAPL) yanked his app from the App Store. Aaron claims federal officials pressured the tech giant and violated his First Amendment rights. The lawsuit names some heavy hitters, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons.
Meanwhile, former ICE director Tom Homan has promised to ramp up enforcement in New York City, which didn't sit well with Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Schumer warned that the tactics would intimidate immigrant communities.
And it's not just about immigrants anymore. Back in September, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called for a federal investigation into whether immigration authorities were wrongly detaining U.S. citizens. She cited incidents in Elgin, Illinois, where two citizens were briefly held by immigration officials.
The whole situation underscores growing tensions between aggressive immigration enforcement and civil liberties protections. As lawsuits pile up and political criticism intensifies, this debate isn't going away anytime soon.