AOC partly blames US sanctions against Venezuelan dictator for migrant crisis
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday partly blamed US sanctions targeting Venezuela’s dictator regime for the migrant crisis ravaging the Big Apple and the country.
“US sanctions that were originally authored by Marco Rubio … certainly took a large part in the driving of populations to our southern border,” the Democratic socialist told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, referring to the Republican Florida senator.
The 33-year-old congresswoman argued that the recent US border surge took place “shortly after those broad-based sanctions were enacted.”
She later conceded that socialist Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is “absolutely” responsible for the influx as well.
Maduro, a member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, took control of the country in 2013 and has presided over its massive economic collapse, with hyperinflation eclipsing triple digits.
Moreover, his special forces have embarked on thousands of extrajudicial killings, according to the United Nations.
Proponents of the US sanctions targeting allies of Maduro argue they are a penalty for the human-rights atrocities unfolding in Venezuela.
Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described Democratic socialist, contend that it is time to reevaluate those punitive measures.
“I think we need to reexamine the nature of the sanctions,” she said.
More than 110,000 migrants have poured into New York City since spring 2022, with many of them flooding homeless shelters and other sites as the Big Apple groans under their weight.
Earlier this month, AOC was showered with a chorus of boos during a press conference about the migration crisis plaguing the city.
Mayor Eric Adams has begged the Biden administration for assistance, arguing that the city’s services are past overwhelmed.
President Biden notably did not meet with Adams during his stop in Manhattan last week for the United Nations General Assembly.
Nationally, the country has been gripped by the crisis as well.
Authorities have had more than 2.86 million border encounters with migrants so far during fiscal year 2023, which ends on Sept. 30, according to US Customs and Border Patrol.
That figure has already blown past the record-breaking 2.77 million from last fiscal year.
Ocasio-Cortez opined Sunday on other hot-button political matters as well.
At one point, she called on Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to step down as he faces a new three-count indictment over bribery allegations — charges he denies.
“It shouldn’t matter whether it’s a Republican or a Democrat, the details in this indictment are extremely serious,” she said.
She also dished on plans to ditch her non-union-made Tesla for a union-manufacturered other electric-vehicle brand.
AOC previously said in May 2022 — after a Twitter dustup with Tesla boss Elon Musk in which the billionaire CEO playfully teased her to “stop hitting on me” — that she was going to trade in her Tesla.
“Our [Tesla] was purchased during the pandemic … before a vaccine had come out,” the congresswoman said Sunday.
“So travel between New York and Washington — the safest way that we had determined was [a Tesla] EV, but that was prior to some of the new models coming out on the market that had the range available,” she added.
“We’re actually looking into trading in our car now.”
Ocasio-Cortez has feuded with Musk in the past and is a vocal backer of the United Auto Workers union strike that began earlier this month.
Musk has practically dared the UAW to attempt to unionize at Tesla factories in the past.
But so far, that hasn’t come to fruition.
Thousands of UAW members are currently striking against the Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler.
President Biden and former President Donald Trump are poised to make dueling appearances near where some of the workers are striking later this week.
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