Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., sent Christmas wishes to refugees, linking their plight to that of the Nativity story.
“Merry Christmas everyone – here’s to a holiday filled with happiness, family, and love for all people. (Including refugee babies in mangers + their parents.),” the New York Democrat wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
Joy to the World!
Merry Christmas everyone – here’s to a holiday filled with happiness, family, and love for all people. ?(Including refugee babies in mangers + their parents.)
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 25, 2018
In the story of Christmas, Joseph and a pregnant Mary traveled from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem to be counted as part of a Roman census, leading to Jesus’ birth in a stable where the pair were staying because no rooms were available in the crowded town.
Last month, Ocasio-Cortez also voiced support for migrants, saying on Twitter that applying for refugee status is not a crime.
On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected a Trump administration request to allow it to enforce its new policy effectively prohibiting asylum for migrants who illegally cross the southern border.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh, the newest member of the court, would have granted the Trump administration’s request to halt a lower court ruling that blocked the Trump administration from enforcing its new policy, according to the order from the court.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the court’s liberal wing to deny the administration’s request.
In a filing with the court earlier this month, Solicitor General Noel Francisco asked the justices to put on hold an injunction from the U.S. district court in San Francisco that blocked the administration from enforcing its asylum policy.
Trump issued his new policy for asylum seekers Nov. 9, as a caravan of thousands of migrants from Honduras and other parts of Central America made its way north toward the U.S.
The order deemed migrants who fail to present themselves at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border ineligible for asylum. Under previous asylum rules, those who entered the U.S. could request to remain in the country.
Democrats and immigrant-rights organizations have been critical of the new policy, with the latter immediately suing to stop the measure from taking effect.
Last week, the Trump administration announced that asylum-seekers who cross the Mexican border illegally must return to Mexico while their cases are decided.
The policy was one the U.S. had been trying to get the Mexican government to agree on for months, and the country’s leaders reluctantly agreed on Thursday.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the policy will prevent people from abusing the asylum process to get into the country illegally.
“Today we are announcing historic measures to bring the illegal immigration crisis under control,” she said. “Aliens trying to game the system to get into our country illegally will no longer be able to disappear into the United States, where many skip their court dates.”
In a statement, Nielsen said, “‘Catch and release’ will be replaced with ‘catch and return.’”
Customs and Border Protection said in November that the number of migrants traveling in families that either surrendered or were arrested by Border Patrol agents surged to more than 23,000 — a record of a one-month period.
