AOC says immigration is ‘arguably’ Biden administration’s ‘weakest issue’
Asher Notheis
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) described immigration as “arguably this administration’s weakest issue” amid concerns from the public and Republican lawmakers regarding the southern border.
The Democratic lawmaker was asked on Wednesday to grade President Joe Biden’s handling of the border crisis. She commented on a greater number of asylum-seekers being held in private detention centers today than there were under President Donald Trump, as well as the Biden administration’s retention of Trump-era immigration policies.
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“Immigration is arguably this administration’s weakest issue,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “This is one area where our policy is dictated by politics, arguably more so than almost any other. There are very clear recommendations and suggestions that we have made to the administration to provide relief on this issue, and it’s my belief that some of the hesitation around this has to do with a fear around just being seen as approving or providing permission structures, or really just the Republican narratives that have surrounded immigration.”
Ocasio-Cortez was also asked why, as a major Democrat in Congress, she has not yet visited the southern border, to which she said that doing so is “something that we’re actively planning on.” The congresswoman said while she has not visited the border yet, she has been taking tours of New York facilities, claiming that “this crisis is in our own backyard.”
When asked about New York residents protesting immigrants being sent to New York City and if she misread her constituents’ feelings about welcoming immigrants, Ocasio-Cortez said that residents are still welcoming but that the people of New York need “partnership from the federal government.”
A recent poll showed 62% of registered voters in New York City are in support of relocating immigrants to other parts of the state.
“I think the issue that New Yorkers have is not that there are immigrants coming to New York City, but that immigrants are being prevented from sustaining and supporting themselves,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We have New Yorkers, and we have New York businesses, that want to receive migrants and want to employ migrants. And that includes across the state.”
New York residents objecting to immigrants being sent to their state comes as Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has been busing immigrants to major Democratic cities, including New York City. Last month, Abbott sent a bus to Los Angeles, making it the fifth bus he has sent to the city.
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Biden has been greatly criticized for how his administration has handled the border, with a recent poll stating that almost half of likely U.S. voters, at 48%, rated Biden as poor on “handling issues related to immigration,” against 33% of voters who gave Biden a “good or excellent” rating on immigration.
On Tuesday evening, Sarah Bedford, an investigative reporter for the Washington Examiner, described the southern border as an “unmitigated disaster” for the Biden administration. Bedford also stated that the border is a topic that “a majority of independents and Democrats” are beginning to acknowledge.