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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocked an illiberal threat from Tom Homan on Thursday after Homan, the so-called border czar tapped by Trump to carry out mass deportations, said the New York Democrat could face punishment for teaching immigrants about their civil rights.
In a Fox News interview, Homan suggested that Ocasio-Cortez could have broken the law by holding a “know your rights” webinar for her constituents as the Trump administration conducts immigration raids — which reportedly have ensnared legal U.S. residents.
“I sent an email today to the deputy attorney general,” Homan said. “At what level is that impedement? Is that impedement? I’m not an attorney; I’m not a prosecutor. Is that impedement? Is that impeding our law enforcement efforts? If so, what are we gonna do about it? Is she crossing the line? So, I’m working with the Department of Justice and finding out. Where is that line that they cross? So, maybe AOC’s gonna be in trouble now.”
For the record, I don’t believe “impedement” is a word. Regardless, the answer is “no” — informing people of their civil rights, as Ocasio-Cortez and the lawyers on her call did, is not “impeding” law enforcement or “crossing the line.”
Ocasio-Cortez hit Homan with a pretty blunt response.
“‘MaYbe shE’s goiNg to be in TroUble nOw,’” she wrote on X, adding: “Maybe he can learn to read. The Constitution would be a good place to start.”
The backstory here is that Homan has complained about such information sessions before. In a recent interview on CNN, he specifically decried “know your rights” efforts, saying that such campaigns have made enforcement of Trump’s immigration plans more difficult.
“They call it ‘know your rights’; I call it ‘how to escape arrest,’” Homan said.
If your so-called law enforcement activity is hampered by people actually knowing the law, that’s not a good sign.
Homan also recently complained that news reports about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids were putting agents at risk of being ambushed, so Trump’s administration has clearly begun a crackdown on perceived obstacles to their immigration goals. As I reported earlier this week, Trump’s attack dog leading the Federal Communications Commission has opened a probe into a San Francisco radio station after it after it broadcast ICE agents’ live locations last month.