Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to clarify whether she is actually under investigation for potentially obstructing the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.
Ocasio-Cortez wrote a letter on Thursday to Attorney General Pam Bondi to inquire whether the DOJ has initiated an investigation into her on the grounds that her office held a webinar meeting meant to help illegal aliens try to avoid deportations. “Border czar” Tom Homan has repeatedly suggested that the “Know Your Rights” virtual meeting violated federal law and amounts to an effort to impede the Trump administration’s immigration policies, and he also contacted the deputy attorney general requesting a review of Ocasio-Cortez’s webinar.
“I write to request clarity on whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) has yielded to political pressure and attempts to weaponize the agency against elected officials whose speech they disagree with. Over the past two weeks, ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan has gone on multiple forums threatening political prosecution against me, citing resources I distributed informing my constituents and the American public of their constitutional and legal rights,” the letter states. “On February 13, 2025, Mr. Homan announced that he had asked the Deputy Attorney General to open an investigation, and that I will be ‘in trouble now.’ It has been 14 days since Mr. Homan first threatened to weaponize your agency, but I have not yet heard any referral from the federal government. Homan’s actions undercut core Constitutional rights and further transparency is necessary.”
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Homan said he is seeking to know whether or not her actions can be classified as “impeding our law enforcement efforts” during a Fox News appearance earlier in February. “If so, what are we going to do about it? Is she crossing the line? So I’m working with the Department of Justice and finding out,” Homan said.
Ocasio-Cortez’s district includes parts of the Bronx and Queens in New York City, which is considered a “sanctuary city,” meaning it does not fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement personnel. The congresswoman’s website reminds constituents who may be targeted in immigration raids that they do not need to open the door for federal immigration officers, do not have to speak to immigration enforcement and can ask them to leave, among other things.
Ocasio-Cortez argues that the webinar is First Amendment-protected speech, and that Homan’s flirtations with investigating — or even prosecuting —her amount to “a textbook threat to the right to free speech in the United States.” She requested that Bondi respond to her letter, first reported by Axios, by March 5.
President Donald Trump has routinely promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history after the Biden administration significantly loosened immigration enforcement and allowed millions of illegal immigrants to enter the country over four years. Beyond Ocasio-Cortez, left-wing activist groups have worked to disrupt or otherwise neuter immigration raids in major cities like Los Angeles.
While some Democrats have decried the Trump administration’s deportation agenda as cruel and inhumane, three recent polls indicate that more Americans support deporting illegal immigrants than do not.
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