Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was mocked online Tuesday evening for giving only a mild criticism to President Joe Biden’s decision to open an immigrant detention facility for kids — something she called “concentration camps” when it was under President Donald Trump.
Ocasio-Cortez’s statement addressing the issue came after critics started to call her out online over her silence over the issue after she made a spectacle over it under the last administration. The Washington Post reported this week that the Biden administration reopened a facility that the Trump administration previously used for over a month to house migrants children amid a surge at the border. Biden had to reopen the facility because coronavirus restrictions allow for fewer kids to be housed in the same facility and because there has been an increase of minors apprehended at the southern border.
Under the Trump administration, Ocasio-Cortez repeatedly called the facilities “concentration camps,” which is factually false. Immigration detention facilities are not the same as concentration camps.
“This is not okay, never has been okay, never will be okay – no matter the administration or party,” AOC started out. However, a short time later she started to change her tune, adding, “Our immigration system is built on a carceral framework. It’s no accident that challenging how we approach both these issues are considered ‘controversial’ stances. They require reimagining our relationship to each other and challenging common assumptions we take for granted.”
“It’s only 2 mos into this admin & our fraught, unjust immigration system will not transform in that time,” Ocasio-Cortez continued, in what appeared to be a reversal of her earlier statement, which was only a mild criticism compared to her over-the-top false claims made during the Trump-era. “That’s why bold reimagination is so impt.”
Ocasio-Cortez concluded by calling for the destruction of the Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency that was created after 9/11 to ensure that the events of that day never happen again. She also called for the destruction of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which removes criminal illegal aliens from America’s streets, including murders, rapists, traffickers, and child sex predators.
“DHS shouldn’t exist, agencies should be reorganized, ICE gotta go,” she said, “ban for-profit detention, create climate refugee status & more.”
Steve Guest, Special Advisor for Communications for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), wrote on Twitter: “A slap on the wrist from AOC to Joe Biden.”
A slap on the wrist from AOC to Joe Biden.
Plus, AOC calls for DHS to be eliminated. https://t.co/TWne9FpiaM pic.twitter.com/3yjtotDrVJ
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) February 24, 2021
Political commentator Stephen Miller wrote: “Little bit more subdued response than flying to the border to scream through a chainlink fence.”
Little bit more subdued response than flying to the border to scream through a chainlink fence. https://t.co/eYmTNFKuF3
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 23, 2021
“She typed in a strongly worded email,” writer Chad Felix Greene said.
Australian political commentator Rita Panahi noted, “Not okay is a far cry from her ‘concentration camp’ claims.”
Not okay is a far cry from her “concentration camp” claims.
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) February 24, 2021
Give us the photo op! https://t.co/RD2x5uK8m8 pic.twitter.com/pVYJq0Ax4W
— John Gage (@johnrobertgage) February 23, 2021
Here are some of Ocasio-Cortez’s tweets from the Trump-era where she was featured in videos showing up the facility and where she repeatedly called the migrant detention facilities “concentration camps”:
This video was from 1 year ago this week – before my primary & the Fox News cycle.
I flew to the concentration camp where the Trump admin was keeping children they stole from their parents.
Back then, I was voicing my conscience. I still am. #AbolishICEpic.twitter.com/QLyc9MiMsV
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 18, 2019
These are concentration camps.
According to concentration camp experts, people begin to die due to overcrowding, neglect, and shortage of resources.
We saw all three of those signs on our trip yesterday. Another person died yesterday.
And those are the deaths we know about. https://t.co/MhujNAYohJ
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 2, 2019
Ah yes, because history knows that people who run concentration camp systems almost always acknowledge to the public what they’re doing. https://t.co/HOX7HGNIrm
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 18, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not respond to a request for comment for this report.