Earlier, we reported on how Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) weighed in over the weekend on the issue of the three House Democrats from New Jersey who, according to video footage, tried to storm the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday, roughing up some federal agents in the process.
In an Instagram video posted on Saturday night, Squad leader AOC told her followers in response to reports that the lawmakers could face arrest over their actions that if "you lay a finger on them, we are going to have a problem."
"If anyone’s breaking the law in this situation, it’s not members of Congress, it’s the Department of Homeland Security," she proclaimed. "It’s people like [border czar] Tom Homan and Secretary Kristi Noem."
READ MORE: AOC Threatens Trump Officials If They Arrest House Dems Over Newark ICE Facility Incident
On Tuesday, Assistant DHS Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin appeared on Fox News, where she was asked about AOC's remarks and what she made of them. McLaughlin responded accordingly, asking who exactly it was AOC was trying to defend here:
"I'd like to ask AOC who does she want out of that detention facility? Is it the MS-13 members? Is it the known terrorists? Is it the child rapists? Is it the murderers? Who is she fighting for, because she's not fighting for Americans. She's not fighting for American victims, and I'd like to lay out the facts, the fact that it was these three members of Congress who trespassed, broke the law, and stormed that ICE detention facility.
They put law enforcement at risk, they put our detainees at risk, and they put our staff at risk. [...] It was assault on our ICE agents, and it's unacceptable."
Watch:
.@TriciaOhio to AOC: “I’d like to ask AOC. Who does she want out of the detention facility?! Is it the MS-13 members? Is it the known terrorists? Is it the child rapists? Is it the murderers?!”
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 13, 2025
🔥🔥pic.twitter.com/SyqGC6WYYw
McLaughlin also posted this to her Twitter/X page, outlining the guidelines for members of Congress and their staffers for visiting ICE facilities:
Members of Congress cannot break the law in the name of “oversight.” All members & staff need to comply with facility rules, procedures, and instructions from ICE personnel on site. INCLUDING 24 hour notice.
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) May 13, 2025
ICE facility visitation guidelines for Congressional members and… https://t.co/3xJJlR6I84 pic.twitter.com/gPYk0T2cU7
As it was in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia situation, this was the perfect way to frame the response, not just to the actions taken by the New Jersey Democrats but also their defenders, like AOC. Is this really about "oversight" and the "rule of law," or is it about defending the worst of the worst with the ICE detainees because Orange Man Bad?
The optics here for Democrats are just terrible, and if they think this is going to be a winning issue with voters come the 2026 midterms, I predict that - as the case was in 2024 on issues like illegal immigration - they are in for a very rude awakening at the ballot box next fall.
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