In a shocking video, AOC used her political platform to call for her fellow Democrats to disrupt ICE’s work of detaining illegal immigrants, all the while staunchly defending members of Congress who broke the law by entering an ICE detention center without permission, leading conservatives to call for AOC’s arrest online.
For context, in a now-viral video shared on May 11, 2025, AOC spoke out in defense of several fellow members of Congress after they came under scrutiny for reportedly trespassing at an ICE detention center in New Jersey alongside a New Jersey Mayor on May 9, 2025. Furthermore, AOC asserted that the Department of Homeland Security was reacting defensively to the illegal actions of the trespassing representatives and made direct threats addressed to border czar Tom Homan and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
In the clip, AOC argued that the Department of Homeland Security was using “public intimidation,” saying that she believed DHS had resorted to this tactic “because they know that they cannot come for us all.” She added, “They know that they are not, that they cannot come for us all. And recently, what they said is that DHS is allegedly looking into arresting members of Congress who were showing up for their legal and constitutional obligation to conduct oversight. If anyone’s breaking the law in this situation, it’s not members of Congress, it’s the Department of Homeland Security.”
Continuing, AOC pointed the finger directly at President Trump’s border czar and DHS secretary, saying, “It’s people like Tom Homan and Secretary Christy Noem, you lay a finger on someone, on Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman on representative, or any of the representatives that were there, you lay a finger on them, we’re going to have a problem.”
Carrying on with her rant, AOC asserted that DHS could not arrest members of Congress “because the people who are breaking the law are the people who are not abiding by it, and it is enshrined in the law that members of Congress who show up to ICE and CBP facilities are required to be granted access, legally required to be granted access, and they legally cannot be inhibited from accessing these facilities to conduct their constitutional obligation to to investigate and conduct oversight.”
Concluding her statements, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez threatened Secretary Noem again, saying, “If Christy Noem wants to break the law, that’s on her.” She added, “But it sure as hell is not someone like Representative Robert Menendez that needs to be arrested. Okay?” In response, conservative author John Strand shot back on X, saying, “WOW: AOC is urging Democrats to break into ICE detention centers, claiming it is their ‘legal & constitutional right’ and that DHS can’t ‘come for us all.'”
In addition, Strand argued that AOC is “inciting crime” and called for fellow conservatives to push for the representative’s arrest, saying, “If you’re totally fed up with this lawlessness, ReTweet this: ARREST AOC!” In response, commenters expressed their frustration with the woke representative, with the user Jeffrey Tipton writing, “Arrest AOC now for inciting lawbreaking and violence.” Another user chimed in, “She is a coward, talks a lot of crap, but won’t cross the line that would damage her politically.
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Watch the clip:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video