Internet backs Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as she discusses value of immigrants to economy and culture

QUEENS, NEW YORK: During an interview with MSNBC host Alex Wagner on Friday, February 23, Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke about the vital contributions that immigrants make to the American economy and culture.

The New York Democrat expressed her concern over the Republican party's political tactics on immigration issues, which she believes ultimately amount to "economic self-sabotage."

She posited that the anti-immigrant policies being promoted by some Republicans are not only damaging to the country's long-term economic interests but also betray American values of diversity and inclusivity.

Rep Ocasio-Cortez argued in favor of a more compassionate and pragmatic approach to immigration which is the need of the hour for the nation to thrive and succeed.

What did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez say on ‘Alex Wagner Tonight’?

Wagner opened the segment on her show by putting Republicans on trial for rolling back child labor laws nationwide, including recently in Kentucky, and then for calling the move “a thoughtful solution to get more workers back in the workforce.”

The MSNBC host argued that the GOP is simultaneously blocking immigration reform that could give adult migrants the opportunity to fill said vacant jobs, many of them in dangerous industries.

Wagner then posed the crisis to the congresswoman by asking her about “the sort of ethical moral calculation here is, to say, shut the borders down.”

She remarked, “These Republicans fully and well know, they need a workforce, probably, of migrants, to work in these really degrading, dehumanizing, dangerous jobs in places like slaughterhouses and would rather have children that are already in the country, work them.”

Ocasio-Cortez replied, “I mean, there is no ethical or moral calculation here that I think Republicans are working with.”

“First and foremost, the amount of protections that they heap on to these places that are so dangerous, themselves operating so unethically, and making them so dangerous for any human adult, or child, to be operating in,” the 34-year-old progressive congresswoman explained.

“But the idea that Republicans, in order to win an election, say we need to hermetically seal the border when they know that that is economic self-sabotage to the US economy and they are saying, let's do it anyway,” she claimed.

“And to compensate for the negative effects, we're going to allow and throw people's kids into factories,” she added. “That is what they are doing in rolling back child labor laws while being as xenophobic and anti-immigrant as they are and while ginning up this false narrative about this being a crisis,” she opined.

The Democratic lawmaker representing New York’s 14th congressional district asserted, “And by the way, by then also preventing and blocking any legislation that would provide not just a path to citizenship but a path to work papers, a path to allowing people who want to work - to be paired with American businesses - who need people to work.”

“And I mean, there is not only no moral calculation, there is no economic calculation. There is no logical calculation. There is only a political calculation. And that political calculation is we are going to keep whining about it,” she contended.

“We are going to keep pretending this is a crisis while contributing to actual problems, and then we're going to block the solution so that we can campaign on it over and over and over and we can call it caravans, we can call it migrant crises, we can call it family separation, and they will just recycle it over and over and over again, in order to gin up just so much animosity and destruction in this country and racism in this country, because that's the only thing that the Republican Party even is standing on at this point,” the Squad figurehead stated.

Wagner reiterated the significance of rolling back child labor laws and the dangerous precedent it sets if left unchecked and asked AOC, “Nobody's talking about the value of migrants. And that includes Democrats.”

Rep Ocasio-Cortez jumped in by saying “Absolutely!” in agreement with the anchor’s accusations against her party.

“I am dismayed, and I very often find myself in shock at our current political situation. Not just that, I'm rarely in shock at the depravity of the Republicans, but sometimes, and this is long what I've been saying, sometimes we, as Democrats have to grow a little bit of a spine around here,” she noted.

“And part of that means defending immigration as a core value of the United States of America. Yes, on a moral and on an identity basis, but on a nuts and bolts basis,” she continued. “The United States, our culture, our population, our economy needs immigration like lungs need oxygen. And when you cut it off, we will start to die,” she declared.

“When you look at other developed economies that have adopted xenophobic or more closed border policies, they enter into decades of economic stagnation. You don't need to look far for that to happen,” she argued.

Ocasio-Cortez asserted, “We do not have to be afraid to say immigration is one of the best things to happen to the United States of America. And what we need to do is champion policies to make it easier to be documented, to get a work permit.”

“And a lot of folks think there's a line to get into this country. Maybe we should make one that works because, without that, it’s just we see the inhumanity of a dysfunctional system,” she posited. She added, “And so, instead of buying into this Republican rhetoric because what's happening is that we're pouring dollar after dollar, cycle after cycle into an increasingly militarized border with no real solution.”

“Here and now, one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the entire United States of America sits under the Department of Homeland Security. But how much better off are we today than we were five years ago, despite having passed billions and billions and billions more dollars going into this and buckling on this over and over again,” she posed.

“We need a path to citizenship in the United States of America. We need to make it easier to have work permits in the United States of America, and we need to be unafraid to unapologetically defend immigration and make it easier to be an immigrant and to migrate to the United States of America because God knows we need it,” the congresswoman stated in conclusion.

Internet hails Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for arguing in favor of immigration

People on YouTube agreed with the progressive New York Democrat commenting on how lucidly she explained the fallacy of a migrant crisis narrative in light of years of American history dealing with immigration.

One user commented, "I could see her becoming president some day."

"AOC should some day run for President. She really cares for the people of this country," another person wrote

Another user said, "AOC making Excellent points on immigration. The racism of the UK, evident in Brexit has seriously harmed their NHA (because medical professionals were primarily European and left due to the racism. Agriculture was harmed because Brits don't like working in the fields any more than Americans do! AND pulling out of the EU impoverished the livestock owners with no one to trade their commodities to! Imagine having to buy your beef from AUSTRALIA and bring it alll the way to the UK!"

One person commented, "What a lovely and great presentation. God bless her for looking after the lower/middle income group."

Another user remarked, "AOC is right and I am miffed at Dems for shoving her and Elizabeth Warren asside. Dem establishment has a serious message problem and that is frustrating."

A user wrote, "We need immigrants to help the US economy. That is why no Republican President fixed the border, even Trump. Sure there can be improvements, but this is just a big political issue."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.