AOC Cheers ICE Shutdown Movement but Won’t Close Her Own Office

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., voiced support this week for a nationwide anti-ICE protest dubbed a “National Shutdown,” while making clear that her congressional office would remain open and operational, as reported by Fox News.

The protest, scheduled for Friday, is being organized by activists calling for “no school, no work, and no shopping” in opposition to federal immigration enforcement actions.

Organizers say the shutdown is intended to disrupt daily life nationwide as a response to recent fatal encounters involving federal agents in Minneapolis, amid an ongoing immigration enforcement effort across Minnesota.

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“The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country — to stop ICE’s reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN,” organizers wrote on the campaign’s website.

Despite expressing “full support” for the protest movement, Ocasio-Cortez said her office would not be closing or participating directly in the shutdown. In a post shared on Instagram, she cited constituent services as the reason.

“Full disclosure — my office handles crucial casework and immigration cases for the community. We will be open tomorrow to continue community support and defend immigrant families,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

She added that she offers “full support for national mobilizations, general strikes, and mass movement work.”

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The congresswoman has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies, particularly those involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol operations in Minnesota.

Organizers of the shutdown campaign claimed online that ICE and Border Patrol agents “are going into our communities to kidnap our neighbors and sow fear,” arguing that a coordinated national action is necessary to halt enforcement efforts.

The protest movement has been fueled in part by two recent fatal shootings in Minneapolis.

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Department of Veterans Affairs ICU nurse, was shot and killed on Jan. 24 by Border Patrol agents while recording federal immigration enforcement activity.

Federal authorities have said the incident is under review.

In a separate case, Renee Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7 by an ICE officer. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the officer fired in self-defense after Good used her Honda Pilot SUV in a manner that posed a threat.

Tensions in Minneapolis had already been elevated prior to Pretti’s death. On Jan. 23, thousands of demonstrators gathered downtown for an “ICE Out of MN: Day of Truth and Freedom” march aimed at disrupting federal immigration enforcement.

That protest occurred one day before Pretti was killed.

While Ocasio-Cortez stopped short of shuttering her own office, her public endorsement adds the weight of a high-profile Democratic lawmaker to a protest movement calling for broad economic and civic disruption in opposition to federal immigration policy.

The planned shutdown is expected to draw demonstrations in multiple cities, as organizers press ahead with calls for mass participation despite mixed responses from elected officials.

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