President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, has asked the Justice Department to investigate House Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Ny.) for obstructing immigration enforcement after she gave illegal aliens advice on dodging the law.
“I’ve asked DOJ, where is that line of impediment, where is that line of interference?” Homan told Fox News. “I’ve simply asked the Department of Justice, give us that line.”
AOC has been an outspoken opponent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since her entry into Congress. Last week, she hosted a controversial "know your rights" Facebook webinar that shared information about the alien removal process.
Ocasio-Cortez did not appear in the webinar, which provided advice on evading deportation. The presentation encouraged immigrants not to open the door when ICE officials come knocking and to demand a warrant first.
Homan - who is overseeing President Trump's mass deportations - has warned that AOC could be in legal jeopardy for obstructing the law.
"What I find disturbing is that any member of Congress wants to educate people on how they evade law enforcement,” he said.
“We are talking about people who are in the country illegally, committed a crime. They are public safety threats, and they’ve been ordered removed by a federal judge,” he added.
“It’s like AOC and others don’t want ICE to enforce the law that they enacted.”
While many agree with Homan that AOC is obstructing the law, some have defended her on free speech grounds. Conservative law professor Jonathan Turley called Homan's threats an attack on the First Amendment.
“Border Czar Tom Homan doubled down last night that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) might be prosecuted for hosting a forum on ‘Know Your Rights’ for accused illegal aliens. Such a prosecution would be an assault on free speech rights,” Turley wrote on X.
On the other hand, Homan has said there's a difference between informing people of their rights and openly encouraging defiance of the law.
“You can claim you’re educating those constitutional rights, okay, you can keep that claim, okay. But what she is in fact doing is telling people ‘Don’t open the door, hide in your home, don’t talk to ICE,’” he told Fox News.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has pledged to track down leakers who have sabotaged ICE by publicizing planned immigration raids.
Homan said he would defer to the DOJ on whether AOC should face arrest.
