Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) didn’t mince her words when asked about Republicans who are now cool with federal immigration agents not wearing masks despite past claims that officers would be unsafe if they did so.
“They were always full of it then, and they are full of it now,” Ocasio-Cortez told Pablo Manríquez, editor of Migrant Insider, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
Her comments arrive after President Donald Trump announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be sent to airports nationwide this week in an effort to assist Transportation Security Administration agents juggling staffing shortages and callouts caused by the partial government shutdown.
The move, which critics see as the administration adding fuel to the fire of an already tense situation for travelers, came with a directive from the president for the ICE agents: “NO MASKS.”
Trump, in a post to his Truth Social platform on Monday, wrote that while he’s a “BIG proponent” of agents wearing masks while dealing with “hardened criminals,” he would “greatly appreciate” agents not sporting them at airports.
The president’s mask exception marks a notable turn from where Republicans were on the issue before the TSA staffing crisis.
Last month, GOP lawmakers signaled their opposition to Democrats who have looked to limit ICE operations, including barring agents from wearing masks, as a government shutdown loomed.
“They’ll find out where they live, they’ll harass their families, or worse,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) on his fears of people doxxing ICE agents who don’t wear masks.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) also expressed concerns that “vicious people” could snap a photo of ICE agents’ faces, resulting in threats against their loved ones.
“That’s just the reality of the world that we’re in,” he said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) slammed calls from the left for agents to remove masks last year, telling Fox News, “From the people who mandated mask-wearing for years in America, it’s absurd.”
