Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is promoting a new round of activist legal observer trainings and anti-ICE teach-ins in New York City as federal immigration enforcement intensifies nationwide.
At a recent town hall, the Squad congresswoman was recorded by Freedom News TV telling attendees, "There's the legal observer community, which is, if you see that ICE is active in your community, knowing the things that you can do legally, to observe, to film, to take notes, without being deemed as impeding law enforcement and how you do these things."
According to The Post Millennial, her remarks come amid an ICE surge in Minnesota and the controversial shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom were interfering with law enforcement operations at the time of their deaths.
Ocasio-Cortez further urged constituents to plug into a network of left-wing organizers, stating, "We have upcoming teach-ins with Hands Off NYC, so we will be doing that in our community, but you can also go to Hands Off NYC on your own and see the trainings that they are doing across New York City." Hands Off NYC, a progressive activist group, not only coordinates such trainings but also distributes signage for businesses that wish to advertise their opposition to ICE enforcement.
The congresswoman escalated her rhetoric by labeling the shootings of Good and Pretti as "murders," despite the circumstances surrounding both incidents. Good was driving her vehicle into the ICE agent who fired the fatal shot, while Pretti, who had been resisting arrest while armed, was shot after a Border Patrol agent shouted that he had a gun amid a chaotic struggle.
Positioning herself squarely against President Donald Trumps immigration agenda, Ocasio-Cortez declared that "we are building infrastructure to be prepared" for what she portrayed as an impending crackdown. She delivered the comments while presenting a PowerPoint that walked through current immigration statutes and featured a slide instructing attendees to "prepare" for ICE.
Her recommended preparation steps included directives to "create a safety plan and proactively find legal help," "engage with local rapid response networks," "request a Know your Rights training from our office," and "fill out a DHS Privacy Release." She went further by offering explicit guidance to illegal immigrants, advising them to "find your legal help before anything happens" because "once ICE retains a person, they don't have the ability to get counsel, once they are detained."
The episode underscores a widening divide between federal law enforcement tasked with upholding immigration law and progressive politicians intent on organizing resistance at the local level. While agents confront violent resistance on the ground, Ocasio-Cortez and allied groups are devoting resources to training activists how to monitor, document, and effectively obstruct the very enforcement actions that many Americans view as essential to national sovereignty and the rule of law.
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