U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is criticizing Trump campaign national finance committee chairwoman Kimberly Guilfoyle for claiming to be a “first generation American,” and saying her mother is an “immigrant.” Guilfoyle was born in San Francisco to a mother who was born in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and its citizens are U.S. citizens.
“The woman the GOP picked as their ‘proud’ Latina to tout ‘immigrant experience’ didn’t seem to know that Puerto Rico is already part of the United States,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat of New York whose mother was also born in Puerto Rico, said. “It’s quite on message, bc it reflects their belief that Latinos aren’t real citizens, even when we are Native descendants.”
“As a first generation American I know how dangerous their socialist agenda is,” Guilfoyle, speaking about Democrats in a fiery speech, told viewers of Monday night’s Republican National Convention. She is not a first generation American.
“My mother Mercedes was a special education teacher from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico,” she continued. “My father, also an immigrant, came to this nation in pursuit of the American dream.”