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AOC Unveils ICE Legal-Observer Trainings at Astoria Town Hall, Cites $14.2 Million for Local Projects

The sessions, organized with Hands Off NYC, focus on documenting ICE activity without impeding officers.

Overview

  • At the Feb. 5 event in Queens, Ocasio-Cortez said her office will host legal observer teach-ins to train residents to film and log ICE operations from public spaces.
  • She told constituents she secured roughly $14.2 million for NY-14 projects, including $2 million for ADA upgrades at the N/W Broadway station and $100,000 for Elmcor youth violence interruption.
  • Ocasio-Cortez urged immigrant families to prepare safety plans, seek legal counsel in advance, and file DHS privacy releases so her office can intervene on cases.
  • She said she voted against the two-week DHS funding measure and called for shutting down the department and abolishing ICE following recent fatal encounters in Minneapolis.
  • Border advisor Tom Homan criticized the trainings and said he is consulting the Justice Department about potential obstruction, while DHS continues under a short-term funding extension.