Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to the House floor on Wednesday to denounce the Laken Riley Act, the bill sailing through Congress on the support of the GOP and a small handful of Democrats that would require mandatory detention of immigrants for certain theft-related crimes.
When her time expired, another lawmaker tried to shut her down — except one of her colleagues jumped in to let her finish.
"I want folks at home to look at what members of Congress are invested in private prison companies, and look at the votes on this bill. It is atrocious that people are lining their pockets with private prison profits in the name of a horrific tragedy and the victim of a crime," said Ocasio-Cortez. "It is shameful. It is absolutely shameful. In a few months, there are members of Congress who voted for this bill who are going to pretend they didn't know about all the bad things that were going to happen because of it. So when a private prison camp opens in your town—"
ALSO READ: Inside the parade of right-wing world leaders flocking to D.C. for Trump's inauguration
At this point, she was told to yield because her time was up — but Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), jumped in and said, "I yield the gentlelady an additional 30 seconds."
"When a private prison camp opens in your town, and they say, we didn't know this was going to happen, know that they did," Ocasio-Cortez concluded.
The exchange earned praise from commenters on social media. "The speed with which AOC’s colleague jumps up to yield her an extra 30 seconds so she can land her closer: teamwork," said Slate writer Sam Adams.
The Laken Riley Act, named after a young woman believed to have been murdered by an unauthorized migrant in Georgia, has come under criticism by experts who worry it would erode due process, allow state attorneys general and lower court judges to countermand the executive branch on releasing detainees, and even let them enact travel bans on foreign countries.
Even Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are unclear on whether they would have the funding to fully enact the law's detention requirements, although GOP lawmakers assure they will provide that money.
Watch the video below or at the link here.
