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𝐀𝐎𝐂’𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐔𝐓𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐅 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐅𝐅 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐒 𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 — 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐑, 𝐒𝐈𝐗-𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐑𝐄, 𝐓𝐀𝐗𝐏𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑-𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Akhter Naureen, is — by AOC’s own public description — a “𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵.” 𝐈𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡: 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬’𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞. Per the reporting, Naureen draws roughly $33,500 per quarter — about $134,000 a year — in taxpayer money. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫-𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚. Set aside the legal status for a second and look at the symbolism AOC chose. Of every qualified American she could have hired as her right hand, she elevated someone whose entry into the country broke the very immigration laws she spends her career trying to weaken further. The staffing choice is the policy position, made flesh. This is what “𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘐𝘊𝘌” looks like as a personnel decision: the people who entered illegally are not a problem to be solved but a constituency to be promoted — into your office, onto your payroll, and into the room where the decisions get made. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐎𝐂, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭.