Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) joined The Rachel Maddow Show following Donald Trump’s Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday night. The purpose of the address was for Trump to make his argument to the American people for the need for the border wall, citing crime and drug trafficking as two of the main reasons we need it. Ocasio-Cortez, who recently said there’s “no question” Trump is racist, once again did not mince words when speaking about the president.
“In the actual address there was falsehood after falsehood, and we have to make sure we get the facts straight,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Every day immigrants commit crimes at a far lower rate than native-born Americans.”
In the address, Trump stressed the need to stop people from illegally crossing the border, saying, “Every day, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents encounter thousands of illegal immigrants trying to enter our country.” Ocasio-Cortez countered, pointing out that many people in this country illegally came here legally, and not necessarily at the southern border.
“The majority of the reason that people are undocumented is visa overstay,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It’s not because people are crossing a border illegally. It is because of visa overstay which, mind you, he’s talking about legal immigration. He’s trying to restrict every kind of immigration there is in the United States.”
Ocasio-Cortez even blamed Trump for the very problem he’s trying to fight, citing the separation of families at the border and his attempts to end the diversity visa lottery. She went on to say, “He’s fighting against almost every way people can actually legally enter this country, forcing them to become undocumented,” Ocasio-Cortez said, “and then he’s trying to attack their undocumented status. This is systematic. It is wrong. And anti-American.”
