Born in the Parkchester neighborhood of The Bronx, Alexandria’s parents moved the family 30 minutes north to Yorktown in search of a stronger public school for her and her brother. Alexandria’s mother was born and raised in Puerto Rico and worked throughout her childhood as a domestic worker. Alexandria’s father was a second-generation Bronxite, who ran a small business in The Bronx. Throughout her childhood, Representative Ocasio-Cortez traveled regularly to The Bronx to spend time with her extended family. From an early age, the stark contrast in educational opportunities available to her and her cousins, based on their respective zip codes, made an impression on her.
Rep. AOC believes our country’s foreign policy must center human rights above all else. She has introduced policies that would shift how our country engages with our global neighbors, centering diplomacy and humanitarian engagement over military intervention and war. In the latest Defense budget bill, the Congresswoman introduced an amendment that would prohibit Direct Commercial Sales and Foreign Military Sales to any country that has engaged in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, genocide, or war crimes. She also called on the Departments of Defense and State to produce a report on the status of human rights in Colombia within 180 days, given reports that as many as 63 people were killed in 2021 during demonstrations against anti-working class reforms. For more on the Congresswoman’s work on this issue, please read on below.