Speaking during the campaign rally for Greg Casar, who is running for Congress in Texas, Ocasio-Cortez compared migrant children at the US-Mexico border to Palestinian children in the West Bank, indicating that they were both in cages.
"Palestine is basically a banned word. It's censored. We don't talk about it. No one knows about it… we shouldn't allow people's humanity to be censored in the United States of America," Ocasio-Cortez said, according to the Middle East Monitor.
She went on to speak against charges of anti-Semitism that she says are levelled against some of Israel's biggest critics in the House, such as US Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.
All are members of a progressive group of lawmakers known as "The Squad", famed for their highly critical stance on Israel. They have previously called to end the many decades of America's unconditional aid to the occupation entity.
"Believing in the basic human dignity and the ability for a person to not be jailed or beaten for who they are, it does not mean that you are bigoted against any other community," she said. "And we got to call that for what it is."
Ocasio-Cortez added, "We need to remember that the people who are taking those tough votes are disproportionately black, brown, and women members of Congress carrying the fire."