AOC Blames GOP for Illegal Alien Crisis, Asks NPR Host to Clarify ‘Problem’ [WATCH]

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., claimed that Republicans are responsible for the immigration crisis, arguing that their refusal to address the issue has contributed to mass illegal immigration.

Her remarks come as Democrats struggle to regain momentum following their loss in the November election to now-President Donald Trump.

During an interview with National Public Radio host Steve Inskeep, Ocasio-Cortez discussed the Democratic Party’s challenges with working-class voters and the ongoing debate over immigration policy.

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“To what extent is immigration, as an issue, part of your problem with working-class voters?” Inskeep asked.

“I guess my question would be, what does the word ‘problem’ mean?” Ocasio-Cortez responded.

Inskeep clarified, “People voting for the other side and not for you.”

Ocasio-Cortez pointed to what she described as a lack of legislative progress on immigration reform, blaming Republicans for using the issue to their advantage.

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“I think that we have a problem on immigration because of the lack of progress that we’ve had on this issue, and as we know, Republicans weaponize that lack of progress,” she said.

She also referenced a bipartisan immigration bill that was recently debated in Congress, claiming that Republicans had no real intention of solving the crisis.

“It is a problem not just for Democrats, it’s a problem for the entire country that Republicans do not want to solve,” she added.

Ocasio-Cortez argued that one of the best ways to address illegal immigration is by expanding legal immigration and creating more pathways to citizenship.

“They are completely uninterested in addressing undocumented people, in addressing a path to citizenship,” she said before Inskeep interrupted.

“Well they do want to address undocumented people by removing them, I mean that’s what the president is attempting now,” he responded.

Ocasio-Cortez criticized Republican-backed legislation such as the Laken Riley Act, claiming it undermines due process rights and fails to provide the necessary infrastructure for large-scale deportations.

“So they are actually creating—it’s not even about creating a deportation pipeline, they are creating a private prison camp pipeline, so they are still creating pipelines to just increase this problem here in the United States,” she said.

Inskeep then pressed her on why immigration remains a “political loser” for Democrats despite their policy positions.

Ocasio-Cortez suggested that the lack of a clear path to citizenship has contributed to the issue, allowing Republicans to “weaponize” the presence of undocumented individuals.

“I think that a lack of a path to citizenship in the United States, the lack of addressing comprehensive immigration reform creates a large population of undocumented people in the United States and that is allowed to be weaponized in many ways,” she said.

She further claimed that most undocumented immigrants did not cross the southern border illegally but instead entered the country legally and overstayed visas.

“We have a large population of undocumented people in the US. Overwhelmingly, it is not because they crossed the southern border of the United States,” she continued.

“It’s because they came here in a documented fashion and overstayed a visa and became undocumented. And it is the lack of ability for us to expand a path to citizenship, modernize paths to citizenship over decades that create this bubbling issue that Republicans are allowed to weaponize.”

NPR Host asks AOC how to deal with the immigration problem, and she responds by saying essentially ‘What problem?’:
Steve Inskeep: “To what extent an immigration as an issue part of your problem with working class voters?”
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez: “What does the word problem… pic.twitter.com/DTaFjeCVOQ

— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) February 28, 2025

Ocasio-Cortez has been a vocal opponent of President Trump’s immigration policies and has encouraged resistance to his administration’s enforcement measures.

With Trump ramping up deportations and reinforcing border security, the debate over immigration is expected to remain a focal point in Washington.

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