Ocasio-Cortez tears into Trump’s immigration agenda: ‘It’s about ethnicity and racism’

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) tore into President Trump at an immigration town hall Saturday, saying the president’s immigration policies are “about ethnicity and racism.”

“All you need to do is hear what the President did this week to know this is not about immigration at all,” Ocasio-Cortez said during the town hall, which took place in her district in Queens, New York, CNN reported.

{mosads}“Because once you start telling American citizens to quote ‘go back to your own countries,’ this tells you that this President’s policies are not about immigration, it’s about ethnicity and racism,” she continued.

The New York Democrat went on to slam the president over attacks he launched on Twitter last weekend, in which he told Ocasio-Cortez and three other congresswomen of color – Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (D), Massachusetts Rep. Ayana Pressley (D) and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) – to “go back” to their home countries.

Ocasio-Cortez called the president’s tweets his “biggest mistake,” saying his “biggest mistake was that he said the quiet part aloud.”

“Because we know that he’s been thinking this the entire time. But he’s been keeping it in here. And this week, it went out here. When he started telling American citizens — where are we going to go?” she continued.

“We’re going to stay right here, that’s where we’re going to go. We’re not going anywhere,” she added.

During the town hall, the congresswoman also spoke briefly about a meeting she has planned with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) next week, in which the progressive lawmaker said the two will discuss immigration policy. 

Ocasio-Cortez said the meeting is “to have a more open-ended conversation and see what we can do to come together on strategy.”