Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) criticized Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday after his administration announced it would waive dozens of federal statutes in order to begin building the southern border wall.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas declared on Wednesday that he is suspending 26 federal laws in order to build a border wall in a region of the Rio Grande Valley Sector where there have been more than 245,000 migrant encounters in this fiscal year alone.
“A wall does nothing to deter people who are fleeing poverty and violence from coming to the United States. Walls only serve to push migrants into more remote areas, increasing their chances of death. It is a cruel policy,” Cortez said.
Ocasio-Cortez has recently come under fire from her constituents due to the recent influx of illegal immigrants in New York City.
Rep. @AOC (D-NY) addresses the migrant crisis in NYC as protesters outside a shelter for asylum-seekers shout “close the border!”:
“They are prevented from employment, and that is part of the strain on our public systems.” pic.twitter.com/eluAC4OHMT
— The Recount (@therecount) September 15, 2023
After touring a migrant shelter in New York City last month, the socialist legislator and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) had a press conference interrupted by demonstrators.
Since last year, the taxpayers of the Big Apple have sheltered and nourished more than 117,000 migrants, and it is anticipated that the city would spend up to $5 billion on the migrant problem.
The Democratic mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, has frequently urged the Biden administration to strengthen border security and assist his city in dealing with the inflow of illegal immigrants.
The president made an effort to defend his apparent change in border policy by claiming that he tried to divert the funds already approved for building the border wall but was ultimately unsuccessful.
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