AOC blasts Kamala Harris for telling illegal immigrants to ‘not come’

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has slammed Vice President Kamala Harris for telling illegal immigrants not to come to the US.

The rebuke came from AOC in a series of tweets on Monday, June 7, and she retweeted a video of Harris telling illegal immigrants not to come to the US amid record migration numbers.

"I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come, do not come," Harris told reporters at a press conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei.

"The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border. There are legal methods by which migration can and should occur, but we, as one of our priorities, will discourage illegal migration," Harris said, who is meeting with Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday.

"And I believe if you come to our border, you will be turned back," she added.

But AOC said that Harris' comments were "disappointing to see". She wrote: "First, seeking asylum at any US border is a 100% legal method of arrival.

"Second, the US spent decades contributing to regime change and destabilization in Latin America. We can't help set someone's house on fire and then blame them for fleeing."

The New York Democrat asked the US to "finally acknowledge its contributions to destabilization and regime change in the region".

She added: "Doing so can help us change US foreign policy, trade policy, climate policy, & carceral border policy to address causes of mass displacement & migration."

Credit: Alamy / Mike Hardiman

The Biden administration is currently in the process of undoing Donald Trump's zero-tolerance immigration policy, which is what has led to many Central American and Mexican immigrants coming into the US, including a number of children without adult escorts.

Per New York Post, Central Americans have interpreted Biden's actions on immigration as a sign that they are welcome in the US as they flee Northern Triangle countries.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in March that the US border situation is not a crisis, and instead, the result of the actions of the previous administration.

Featured image credit: Alamy / SOPA Images Limited