AOC demurs when grilled on why she hasn’t visited border under Biden

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — who embarked on multiple border visits during the Trump administration — was evasive when pressed on why she hasn’t visited the border during President Biden’s time in office.

The left-wing rep said that she is focused on the ongoing migrant crisis in the city and plans to make the trek in the future when asked by the New York Times why she hasn’t gone to the border under Biden.

“This is something that we’re actively planning on. What I have done is tours of our New York-area facilities. Right now, this crisis is in our own backyard,” she told the Times.

The news outlet repeatedly grilled her about not making the trek, prompting her to insist that it was in the works.

“This crisis is right here in our own backyard, I have absolutely prioritized having that visitation presence,” she replied.

“If we only think of the immigration crisis as a border issue and only understand our border as a southern border and not John F. Kennedy Airport, that constitutes a lack of imagination,” she added.

Immigration woes have fomented friction between New York Democrats such as Mayor Adams, who wants more federal assistance, and Biden.

Even the 33-year-old Ocasio-Cortez told the New York Times that “immigration is arguably this administration’s weakest issue.” 

Back in 2019, Ocasio-Cortez visited a border complex in El Paso, Texas and assailed the conditions migrants endured under former President Donald Trump.

“This administration has established concentration camps on the southern border of the United States for immigrants, where they are being brutalized with dehumanizing conditions and dying,” she posted on social media around the time.

The 2019 trip was one of several prominent ventures she made to the southern border during the Trump administration.

But now the border crisis is at her doorstep. Nearly 100,000 migrants have poured into New York City since last spring, according to data from City Hall.

Some of them came on buses from red states such as Texas which are eager to have liberal enclaves share in their experiences with the border crisis.

During fiscal year 2022, US Customs and Border Protection reported a record 2.4 million encounters at the border.

For the first nine months of fiscal year 2023, there have been at least 1.7 million migrant encounters at the border, per the agency.