Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is being cheered by her critics after she made an attempt to sound the alarm about the situation at the southern border, but her accidental argument went in favor of President Trump’s national emergency declaration.
On Tuesday, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives failed to override the president’s veto of a resolution canceling his declaration of a national emergency at the border with Mexico, falling short of the two-thirds vote required with a final vote of 248-181.
The Dems have repeatedly argued that the situation at the border is not a crisis and thus does not merit a national emergency declaration. However, this Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez, known as ardent Trump administration critic and one of the leaders of the #AbolishICE movement, made an early morning tweet in which she highlighted just how overwhelmed our immigration system has become on account of the continued influx of migrants in recent months.
“Look at this picture,” the freshman congresswoman wrote, referencing an image of migrants behind fences under an overpass. “When you’re looking at this photo, you’re looking at a mirror. This is America. This is Texas. This is our the course of action, the one we chose. I cannot and will not accept it.”
The picture comes from a tweet by Nick Miroff, who writes in his caption: “This is El Paso right now, where hundreds of migrant families are being held in the parking lot of a Border Patrol station because there is no room for them inside, or anywhere else.”
Like hundreds of her social media posts, her immigrant post has gained the attention of many online users, including over at Twitchy, which notes that Ocasio-Cortez appears to have just made the conservative case that there is in fact a “crisis at the southern border” that requires, as President Trump argues, some “emergency” actions.
“Soooo, you’re saying it IS a crisis: AOC just accidentally admitted Trump is right, there IS a National Emergency at the border,” Twitchy’s title for its coverage of the tweet reads.
“This is an issue, but this is not an issue of family separation, Nick Miroff – if correct says these are migrant families,” writes KUTV reporter Heidi Hatch responding to AOC’s tweet. “The question is what to do with these families. No country has neighborhoods with empty homes ready to take families in the second they walk across a border.”
“I’m from Uganda. Immigration must be done legally,” writes one follower. “They are there because they went for the illegal method. If you do something illegal you receive consequences. If you’re in charge @AOC how do you deal with this situation?”
“Perhaps that photo will actually DISCOURAGE more people from breaking the law,” writes one AOC critic. “Apparently fostering a conducive environment that lures unaccompanied children to risk illegal border cross and fall prey to traffickers ISN’T an emergency,” writes another. “Omg there’s a crisis at the border,” added one Twitter user. “Well said….now AOC admits it….” replied another.
While President Trump hasn’t replied to the congresswoman’s tweet directly, he did issue his own “border crisis”-themed tweet early Thursday morning.
“Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets slamming his political opponents. “They are all talk and no action. Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing. The Dems don’t care, such BAD laws. May close the Southern Border!”
