🎃Emil-EEK!🎃

I tried reaching out to AOC's office twice a couple of years ago to speak about abuse of immigrant children being held in US custody (yes, kids are still in cages). As a professional with expertise in child abuse, I expressed my concern that there was no independent governmental agency charged with investigating instances of reported physical, emotional or sexual abuse of these children. Prior to this, I had contacted Child Protective Services in Texas where one of the immigrant detention centers was. They said they had no jurisdiction because the facility fell under federal jurisdiction. So the only agency charged with investigating ICE abuses of immigrant children is... ICE itself. This is laughable. On both occasions, I spoke with one of AOC's staff persons. One took the information and never got back to me. A second, who worked on policy issues related to children, was very interested and concerned with what I was telling her, said she was going into a meeting with AOC in a few minutes and would bring it up. She seemed eager to discuss the issue with AOC and the other staffers. I didn't hear back. When I called to find out how it was received at the meeting and what AOC might be able to do, the staffer just said "that's not something they're going to work on right now but thank you for calling". One of the things that AOC did to cement her national celebrity status was to have pictures of her taken openly weeping outside the gates of an ICE detention facility where children were kept. But when given information that no independent agency was allowed to investigate allegations of sexual and other abuses of these children, she did nothing. When we talk about who is or isn't serious in politics today, this story stands foremost in my mind. To use the suffering of immigrant children to garner national attention for yourself while at the same time refusing to use your power to do anything about it, not even be willing to have a conversation about possible remedies, is worse than being unserious. It is predatory.