Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) asked U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday whether the Department of Justice is investigating her office for teaching illegal immigrants how to avoid the Trump administration’s mass deportations earlier this month.
Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional office and lawyers with Immigrant Defense Project held a “Know Your Rights with ICE” webinar two weeks ago, educating illegal immigrants at risk of deportation about their rights and how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement gathers information and enforces immigration laws.
President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan has repeatedly criticized Ocasio-Cortez, saying she is “going to be in trouble now” because she may be “impeding” immigration enforcement. Two days after the webinar, Homan said he asked the U.S. deputy attorney general to open an investigation.
“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,” the progressive Squad member wrote in a letter.
Ocasio-Cortez, who claimed her First Amendment rights are under attack, has yet to receive a notice from the Justice Department about her conduct. National Review contacted the department for comment.
“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,” she wrote. “Homan’s actions undercut core Constitutional rights and further transparency is necessary.”
The letter marks an escalation of the public feud between Ocasio-Cortez and Homan, both of whom have been bickering with each other for weeks.
In addition to the webinar, the congresswoman has a page on her website dedicated to immigrant rights. She urged immigrants who have an open order of removal or are “worried about getting picked up by ICE” to complete a privacy release form from the Department of Homeland Security so that her office can intervene.
Representatives Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) offer similar “Know Your Rights” website pages. A large immigrant population resides in the congressional districts of Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib.
After taking office, Trump prioritized deporting millions of immigrants who committed violent crimes or otherwise resided in the U.S. illegally. Homan, who has openly spoken about mass deportations, is leading the charge on that front.
“Mr. Homan’s repeated attempts to use your agency to politically intimidate duly elected officials are a textbook threat to the right to free speech in the United States,” the letter reads. “Threatening criminal proceedings for exercising the First Amendment is itself a violation of the First Amendment.”
“Educating the public about their rights, especially in a time of rising uncertainty, is a key part of our responsibility as elected officials. A government that uses threats of DOJ investigations to suppress free speech is a threat to all, regardless of political ideology.”
Ocasio-Cortez asked Bondi to respond to her inquiry by March 5.
During the Conservative Political Action Conference last weekend, Homan said the Trump administration is looking into whether nonprofits are also impeding immigration authorities but declined to reveal details about the effort.
“A lot of NGOs, a lot of these groups,” he previously told National Review. “I don’t want to share that all with you, because we’re looking at it, and it’s in the middle of investigation. So, I don’t want to show my hand.”