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AOC selling 'Abolish ICE' T-shirts in online store as border illegal immigrant encounters, drug seizures soar
By Andrew Miller
Published February 18, 2022
The "new arrivals" section of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s online store features multiple items promoting the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as the crisis at the southern border continues to intensify.
T-shirts, posters, and magnets are currently available on the New York Democrat’s official team shop that feature an ice cooler with the word "abolish" spray-painted in red above the word "ice."
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks during a meeting of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. (Getty Images)
"We must go bigger and bolder on reimagining our immigration system," the caption for the $27 T-shirt reads. "The path forward is clear: We must abolish ICE."
The new arrivals section also features products promoting the Green New Deal, taxing the rich, and the idea that "housing is a human right."
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is seen during Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 23, 2019. (Getty Images)
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Ocasio-Cortez, who has been a vocal support of abolishing ICE for several years, is selling the merchandise at the same time illegal immigration into the U.S. is surging along with law enforcement seizures of fentanyl.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Friday said it had seen a "substantial increase" in fentanyl seizures at the southern border in January, just as it confirmed that there were 153,941 migrant encounters last month.
CBP’s monthly operational update confirmed Fox News’ reporting on Wednesday that there had been 153,941 encounters in what is typically a slow month for border crossers. The number is nearly double the 78,414 migrant encounters in Jan 2021, and more than quadruple the 36,585 in Jan 2020.
There were 48,945 lbs of drugs seized at the southern border in January, which is down from 59,793 lbs encountered a year prior. However, fentanyl seizures were up, with 839 lbs seized in January, compared to 682 lbs in FY 2021 and 139 in FY 2020.
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Fentanyl, an opioid for pain treatment, is between 50 and 100 times more potent than morphine. In Fiscal Year 2021, CBP seized 10,586 pounds of the deadly drug at the southern border, which can be fatal in extremely small amounts. That is up from 4,558 pounds seized in FY 2020 and 2,633 pounds seized in FY 2019. So far in FY 2022, agents have seized 3,289 lbs.
Getty Images
Over 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses from September 2020 to September 2021, which represents a 16% increase from the previous year, according to the CDC.
The CDC stated that 78,388 of those deaths were from opioids and 86% of those deaths were from fentanyl.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News.
"ICE is a dangerous agency with 0 accountability, widespread reporting of rape, abuse of power, + children dying in DHS custody," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in 2019.
In 2021, Ocasio-Cortez argued that a solution at the southern border is to build up Health and Human Services facilities rather than ICE and CBP facilities.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aoc-selling-abolish-ice-t-shirts-in-online-store-as-border-illegal-immigrant-encounters-drug-seizures-soar