Ocasio-Cortez Sends Panicked Letter To DOJ After Homan Threat
New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is raising alarms after reports surfaced suggesting she may face a federal investigation for potentially “aiding and abetting” illegal immigrants in evading capture by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The high-profile progressive sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi this week, pressing for answers on whether she is under investigation. This comes after border czar Tom Homan publicly revealed that he had referred Ocasio-Cortez to the Justice Department, recommending a criminal probe.
“I write to request clarity on whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) has yielded to political pressure and attempts to weaponize the agency against elected officials whose speech they disagree with. Over the past two weeks, ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan has gone on multiple forums threatening political prosecution against me, citing resources I distributed informing my constituents and the American public of their constitutional and legal rights,” she began her letter.
Ocasio-Cortez specifically referenced February 13, 2025, the day Homan declared that he had contacted the Deputy Attorney General to request an investigation and warned that she would be “in trouble now.” The congresswoman noted, “It has been 14 days since Mr. Homan first threatened to weaponize your agency, but I have not yet heard any referral from the federal government. Homan’s actions undercut core Constitutional rights and further transparency is necessary.”
She then quoted the First Amendment, arguing that Homan’s behavior represents a dangerous precedent.
“Indeed, last week, Vice President Vance said that ‘we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square.’ Mr. Homan’s repeated attempts to use your agency to politically intimidate duly elected officials are a textbook threat to the right to free speech in the United States. Threatening criminal proceedings for exercising the First Amendment is itself a violation of the First Amendment,” she added.
Ocasio-Cortez insisted that helping the public understand their rights, especially in moments of heightened uncertainty, is an essential duty of elected officials. “Educating the public about their rights, especially in a time of rising uncertainty, is a key part of our responsibility as elected officials. A government that uses threats of DOJ investigations to suppress free speech is a threat to all, regardless of political ideology. Please respond no later than March 5, 2025, with an update on the Department of Justice’s response to Mr. Homan’s request and transparency as to whether my office or myself is actively under investigation for exercising their First Amendment rights and executing on our congressional responsibilities,” she concluded.
This dispute first erupted after Ocasio-Cortez hosted a “Know Your Rights” webinar on Instagram Live earlier this month. Homan argued that the event was actually designed to help illegal immigrants learn tactics to avoid arrest by immigration officers.
The event, presented in both English and Spanish, included legal experts from the Immigrant Defense Project who explained how undocumented individuals should react during ICE enforcement actions.
Additionally, Ocasio-Cortez’s office has distributed pamphlets that outline common ICE strategies and highlight what legal rights are available to undocumented immigrants.
During an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Homan confirmed that he had officially urged the deputy attorney general to launch an investigation into Ocasio-Cortez’s actions.
“She wants to go out and say she’s teaching people the constitutional rights. Yeah, you can call it that,” Homan said during the segment.
“We all know what she’s up to. She wants to tell these people how to evade arrest, how to evade ICE, and we still got child predators we’re looking for in New York and her district. People convicted of child sex crimes, people who’ve been convicted of rape, and she wants to say she’s educating them in constitutional rights,” Homan claimed.
He further criticized Ocasio-Cortez, saying, “We’re trying to enforce the laws that Congress enacted. I believe she’s a member of Congress, so if they’re writing laws they don’t want enforced, I can think they got better things to do at a time, but as a member of Congress, you would think she’d want ICE to enforce laws, laws they enacted, that they appropriate us funding to do, and that’s what we’re trying to do, and she’s making it more difficult and more dangerous.”
Hannity acknowledged that Ocasio-Cortez could argue she was simply exercising free speech, but he asked: “When does it cross a line into aiding and abetting lawbreaking?”
“That’s exactly the question I posed to the Deputy Attorney General. I asked him to look into it. I said, you know, I know through my career someone steps in front of you and between you and the person you’re arresting or beating,” Homan said.