Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warns of ICE surveillance at New York town hall

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a warning regarding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a town hall event hosted by More Perfect University in New York. Addressing a crowd of over 1,000 people, the Democratic lawmaker characterized ICE as a product of the post-9/11 “surveillance state establishment.”

Ocasio-Cortez claimed that the agency utilizes artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and Palantir technology to conduct surveillance. She warned that the agency is “coming after you, regardless of your status,” and described it as an “unconstitutional system” that functions as a “black box” capable of making people disappear.

During her remarks, she also alleged that private prison companies, such as Geo Group and CoreCivic, profit from these operations. She suggested that Republican members of Congress invest in these stocks prior to authorizing ICE funding. While she stated that law enforcement should follow the established criminal justice system and provide due process, she argued that current ICE operations bypass these standards.