New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had an illegal immigrant working for her, marking an apparent sidestep of federal law.
Diego de la Vega, who was born in Quito, Ecuador, came to the United States for the first time in 2001 as a seven-year-old, eventually overstaying his visitor’s visa, according to a Thursday report from Migrant Insider.
De la Vega, who later enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, got involved politically after the Dream Act failed in 2010. The law would have granted temporary conditional residency and the right to work for those brought to the United States as children.
He started serving as a communications worker in the New York State Assembly, and for Make the Road NY, which advocates for illegal aliens.
Through that organization, he helped to secure $2.1 billion in 2021 to pay $15,000 relief checks to illegal aliens barred from federal emergency aid.
Ocasio-Cortez’s reelection campaign tapped him in 2022, and he became the progressive firebrand’s deputy communications director.
“Alexandria comes from an organizing background herself, so she likes to hire people who share that experience,” de la Vega, now 31, told Migrant Insider.
“She’s an excellent communicator, and the team she built is top-notch.”
DACA recipients are not allowed to work for paid positions in congressional offices, according to a report from Fox News, meaning that de la Vega was not taking a paycheck from her office.
Should AOC be censured for sidestepping federal law and using de la Vega as free labor?
Yes: 99% (643 Votes)
No: 1% (5 Votes)
His LinkedIn profile shows him working for the AOC campaign through the end of last year.
The outlet reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s team but has not received a response.
In any case, de la Vega has now self-deported to Colombia.
“In my late 20s, I began to seriously consider how precarious my future in the U.S. was,” he told Migrant Insider.
“I thought about what would happen if I just left, if I went to Latin America, if I embraced my identity as a Latino instead of trying to fit the image of a picture-perfect immigrant.”
De la Vega’s wife is an illegal alien without DACA status, meaning she was even more vulnerable.
Even beyond the ascendance of President Donald Trump, de la Vega said that “the likelihood of amnesty, citizenship, or comprehensive immigration reform seemed slim.”
He was not convinced that former Vice President Kamala Harris or most other Democrats could accomplish such an agenda.
“I became frustrated with how the immigration movement was operating. The messaging, the policy proposals—there was a massive amount of money behind them, yet they all failed,” he continued.
“The movement has become calcified. It’s run by executives with foundation ties who are disconnected from field workers and grassroots leadership.”
The fact that an illegal alien whose family broke immigration law to enter the country can move American policy, especially to win payouts for other illegal aliens and overhaul our immigration system, all while remaining an illegal alien himself, is completely unjust.
It’s essentially a burglary of the American people in their own country.
Even worse is the fact that AOC was willing to sidestep immigration law to make sure de la Vega could continue in that course even at the highest levels of our government.
Ocasio-Cortez was elected to represent New Yorkers, not foreigners illegally residing in New York.
But like so many other Democrats, she decided to put foreigners first and her own people second.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
