Politics

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Suggests Sending Caseworkers To Border Instead Of Troops To Face Rock-Throwing Migrants

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Democratic New York Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed her own solution to the continued unrest at the U.S.-Mexico border, claiming that the government should deploy caseworkers in place of troops.

Suggesting that a military presence and response at the border created a “moral crisis,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “What if instead of sending [5,000] troops to the border, we had sent [5,000] caseworkers to review [and] process visa applications?”

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 01: New York Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at a rally calling on Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) to reject Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court on October 1, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. Sen. Flake is scheduled to give a talk at the Forbes 30 under 30 event in Boston after recently calling for a one week pause in the confirmation process to give the FBI more time to investigate sexual assault allegations. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

BOSTON, MA – OCTOBER 01: New York Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at a rally calling on Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) to reject Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court on October 1, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. Sen. Flake is scheduled to give a talk at the Forbes 30 under 30 event in Boston after recently calling for a one week pause in the confirmation process to give the FBI more time to investigate sexual assault allegations. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

She continued, “In addition to averting moral crisis, it also would‘ve saved [an] enormous [amount] of resources. But we don’t talk about the financial recklessness of GOP admins, do we?”

The problem with Ocasio-Cortez’s proposed solution is that many of the migrants appear to be approaching the border with the intent to cross illegally without attempting to declare asylum at a legal port of entry at all. (RELATED: Migrant Caravan Tries To Storm Border, U.S. Responds With Tear Gas)

Additionally, Ocasio-Cortez left out the fact that migrants seeking asylum do not apply for visas at all — rather, once inside the borders of the United States, they submit an application for asylum (I-589). If that is denied, they are given a notice to appear or a referral to an immigration judge.

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