Footage from a 2019 congressional hearing shows Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) sparring with incoming border czar Tom Homan over the “zero-tolerance” policies the former ICE director supported under his leadership. At the time, Democrats were outraged over the separation of children from their families upon being apprehended for illegally entering the United States.
For context, AOC attempted to excoriate Homan over a letter he had signed but not authored that recommended the separation of illegal immigrants. However, Homan fired back at AOC and shut her down with facts about U.S. law that dismantled the progressive “Squad” member’s argument against the policy. AOC had previously insinuated that family separation was a violation of human rights.
Calling out Homan over the policy recommendations of the memo, Ocasio-Cortez said, “But it says here that you read, you gave her numerous options, but the recommendation was option three, family separation.” Homan replied, “I’m saying this is not the only paper where we’ve given the secretary numerous options to secure the border and save lives.” AOC shot back, “And so the recommendation of the many that you recommended, you recommended family separation.”
Speaking about the “international human rights agreement” that the U.S. is supposedly in adherence to, the congresswoman stated in the hearing, “So we as members of the United Nations signed on into an international human rights agreement, saying very clearly that family separation is a violation of international human rights, and we pursued a policy that violates human rights. You know, Mr. Chair, I was looking, how did we get to this point?”
Providing crucial context about the “zero-tolerance” policy, Homan explained to AOC, “I recommend a zero-tolerance … the same as is whatever US citizen, parent gets arrested when they’re with a child.” However, she didn’t seem to acknowledge the validity of Homan’s argument, continuing to push back. Refusing to back down, Homan continued, “If I get arrested for DUI and I have a young child in a car, I’m gonna be separated. When I was a police officer in New York and I arrested a father for domestic violence, I separated that father from the family.”
AOC then said, “Mr. Homan, with all due respect, legal asylees are not charged with any crime.” Citing the specific law, Homan noted that unlawfully crossing the border, whether seeking asylum or not, is still a crime if the individual doesn’t go through a legal port of entry. “When you’re in the country illegally, it’s violation eight United States Code, 1325,” he said.
Unconvinced, AOC maintained, “Seeking asylum is legal.” Homan fired back, “If you want to seek asylum and go to the port of entry. Do it the legal way.” At this point, Ocasio Cortez was beginning to appear visibly frustrated with the former ICE director shutting down her argument with pertinent facts “The Attorney General of the United States and made that clear,” he doubled down.
Watch a clip from the congressional hearing below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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