AOC Slams Biden Admin On Child Migrant Facilities

Whatever you might think of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s policy positions, you have to respect the integrity – and consistency – she is displaying by calling out the Biden Administration on its handling of child migrants at the border. If we are going to slam the previous admin for its “children in cages” modus operandi when it comes to how it detained undocumented minors crossing the border, we have to hold the new regime by the same standard – political partisanship be damned.

That’s exactly what AOC is doing – carving out her own independent voice within the progressive political sphere, one that is capable of breaking rank at any moment and is not adherent to the Democratic Party establishment, she tweets: “This is not okay, never has been okay, never will be okay – no matter the administration or party.”

AOC was referencing a Washington Post link to a story about Biden’s new child migrant facilities, which look like only a slight improvement on “cages” migrant children had been held in the past two administrations, but are still cold, desolate, and currently overcrowding.

AOC is showing the Latinx community and Hispanic Congressional Caucus that immigration policy must be reformed now, not in a future election cycle. And blind support of the Democratic Party – which continues to dangle carrots in front of pro-immigration policies and pathways to citizenship for DACA recipients, but still fails to deliver – is something the Latino community can no longer afford. She followed up her explosive tweet with some measured hope, but also with criticism for the current system.

“Our immigration system is built on a carceral framework. It’s no accident that challenging how we approach both these issues are considered “controversial” stances. They require reimagining our relationship to each other and challenging common assumptions we take for granted,” she writes. “It’s only 2 mos into this admin & our fraught, unjust immigration system will not transform in that time. That’s why bold reimagination is so impt[sic]. DHS shouldn’t exist, agencies should be reorganized, ICE gotta go, ban for-profit detention, create climate refugee status & more.”

Maybe Latinos should start their own political party. One that serves our needs, and doesn’t just offer us lip service while kicking us around like the proverbial political football. Props to AOC on this one…don’t let ’em off the hook.