Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Illegal Aliens Residing in My District Are ‘My Constituents’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-CA) said during a Thursday House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing that illegal aliens residing in her district were her “constituents.”

Ocasio-Cortez, who led with a quote from Kansas Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach, asked Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross about his plan to add a “citizenship question” to the 2020 U.S. Census when she made the remarks about illegal aliens being her constituents.

“Mr. Kobach later emailed to you on July 14 writing that the lack of the citizenship question ‘leads to the problem that aliens who do not actually reside in the United States are still counted for congressional apportionment services,’” she said at the Thursday hearing.

“Of course they do reside in the United States. They reside in my district. They’re my constituents,” she added.

Ross announced on March 26, 2018, that the 2020 U.S. census would bring back a question asking people whether they are citizens of the U.S.

Many congressional Democrats expressed outrage over the citizenship question soon after it was announced, and many Democrats have argued the question could discourage immigrants from participating in the Census.

Several state attorney generals and the American Civil Liberties Union later filed lawsuits questioning whether it is constitutional for the government to ask people about their citizenship status.

A New York federal judge blocked the Trump administration in January from adding the citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census, but the Supreme Court announced last month that it would hear the case on whether it is constitutional for the government to ask about citizenship status on the 2020 Census.