Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit back at Trump border czar Tom Homan on Friday after threats about referring her to the Department of Justice (DOJ) over advising people on immigration.
Newsweek reached out to the DOJ via online form Friday night for comment.
Why It Matters
Since his January 20 inauguration, President Donald Trump has implemented sweeping change, mainly through executive orders, and has prioritized immigration.
Trump announced the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime law that grants the commander in chief authority to detain or deport noncitizens. The implementation was blocked in federal court and has since sparked a contentious legal back-and-forth.
Homan is tasked with deportation efforts and has touted numbers on his social media that point to the Trump administration’s work thus far in reducing border crossings.
What To Know
Ocasio-Cortez has made it a point to hit back at the Trump administration’s immigration policies by speaking about them at rallies across the U.S.
On the congresswoman’s website there is also a section about immigration, labeled “know your rights.”
The website says in part that, “Our office is generally only able to provide immigration casework assistance to constituents who have open immigration cases. Specifically, our office can submit inquiries to federal agencies to follow up on the following applications and cases:
- Immigrant Visa Applications
- Non-Immigrant Visa Applications
- Asylum Cases
- Employment Authorization
- DACA and TPS Cases
- Citizenship, naturalization, and oath ceremony”
Reacting to Ocasio-Cortez’s position of speaking out against the administration and helping constituents with immigration policy, Homan said she is helping people evade law enforcement.
The border czar has even called for U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the DOJ to investigate lawmakers like Ocasio-Cortez and give him guidelines on what crosses the legal line.
In a Friday town hall in Jackson Heights in the Queens borough of New York City, Ocasio-Cortez took a swipe at Homan and the DOJ regarding their comments, saying, “When we first did one of these seminars, Tom Homan, then-acting director of ICE, said that he was going to threaten to refer me to the DOJ because I’m using my free speech rights in order to advise people of their constitutionally guaranteed protections. And he may want to do it again today. To that, I say, come for me. You’re going to have to come for me.”
The lawmaker added, “Our rights are use it or lose it. So, we need to use it. And we need to challenge them. So don’t let them intimidate you into thinking that you’re doing something wrong by telling people what their actual, legal constitutional rights are. There’s nothing wrong about it, and there’s nothing illegal about it. And if they want to make it illegal, they can come take me. That’s how I feel about it.”
Homan has worked under former President Barack Obama and Trump during his first term.
The nation has also been gripped by the deportation case of El Salvadoran nation Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Trump administration accidentally sent Abrego Garcia back to his home country due to an “administrative error” after an immigration court said he was barred from returning over retaliation fears of rival gangs of MS-13.
The Trump administration has accused the 29-year-old Maryland man of being a member of the El Salvadoran gang, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization.
His family denies any ties to gangs and Abrego Garcia has no criminal record in the United States. In 2021, his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, accused him of domestic violence and filed paperwork to obtain a restraining order, but says they have since reconciled.
In an exclusive statement to Newsweek, Vasquez Sura said, in part: “Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through the situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling.”
What People Are Saying
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on X, formerly Twitter, in April: “Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, we have the most secure border in American history. In less than 100 days, daily border encounters are down 93% and migrant crossings are down 99.99% at the Darien Gap. The world is hearing our message: do not come to this country illegally. If you do, we will arrest you, deport you and you will not be allowed to return.”
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York posted to X on Thursday: “The Trump administration is patently breaking the law, trying to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport people without due process. Americans reject this. The courts are taking them to task. We won’t stop fighting for our Constitution.”
What Happens Next
The Trump administration has petitioned the Supreme Court to take failed immigration cases in lower courts, most recently requesting that the High Court allow revocation of Temporary Protected Status for more than 300,000 Venezuelan migrants—which would clear a path for more deportations.
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