AOC Clashes With VP Kamala Harris Over Border Messaging

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted Vice President Kamala Harris for urging undocumented migrants to “not come” to the United States amid a record surge in border crossings — calling the veep’s comments “disappointing.”

Ocasio-Cortez offered a rebuttal in a series of tweets, retweeting a video of the Vice President discouraging illegal migration during her trip to Guatemala.

“I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come, do not come,” Harris said during a press conference alongside Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei.

“The United States will continue to enforce our laws, and secure our border. There are legal methods by which migration can and should occur, but we, as one of our priorities, will discourage illegal migration,” said Harris, who on Tuesday is in Mexico meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. “And I believe if you come to our border, you will be turned back.”

For AOC, Harris’ comments were “disappointing to see.”

Ocasio-Cortez called on the US to “finally acknowledge its contributions to destabilization and regime change in the region…First, seeking asylum at any US border is a 100% legal method of arrival.”

AOC continued, “Second, the US spent decades contributing to regime change and destabilization in Latin America. We can’t help set someone’s house on fire and then blame them for fleeing.”

The New York Democrat went on to call on the United States to “finally acknowledge its contributions to destabilization and regime change in the region. Doing so can help us change US foreign policy, trade policy, climate policy, & carceral border policy to address causes of mass displacement & migration,” she added.

Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei says he and VP Harris are “not on the same side of the coin” on immigration issues. When Biden took office, “The message changed too: ‘We’re going to reunite families, we’re going to reunite children,’” he said. “The very next day, the coyotes were here organizing groups of children to take them to the United States.”

Following the visit, Vice President Kamala Harris engaged in a tense interview with NBC when pressed on why she hasn’t visited the US-Mexico border in the days since President Biden put her in charge of the record-smashing illegal immigration crisis.

“We’ve been to the border. So this whole thing about the border. We’ve been to the border,” Harris said, to which Holt replied, “You haven’t been to the border.”

Harris countered, “And I haven’t been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t, understand the point that you’re making. I’m not discounting the importance of the border.”