¡Adiós! AOC Aide, an Illegal Immigrant, Self-Deports to Colombia

Diego de la Vega says he has ‘freedom of movement’ in Colombia, unlike United States

An illegal immigrant who served as deputy communications director for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) has fled the United States for Colombia, saying he finally has “freedom of movement.”

Diego de la Vega, who arrived in the United States from Ecuador at age seven and overstayed his visitor’s visa, began working for Ocasio-Cortez in October 2022, according to his LinkedIn. Last December, de la Vega left the United States and relocated to Bogotá with his wife, another illegal immigrant, the Substack “Migrant Insider” reported.

Ocasio-Cortez praised her former aide on Wednesday, saying he was “amazing” and that “we love him.”

De la Vega’s self-deportation came soon after Donald Trump won the presidential election in November. Trump’s administration has ramped up immigration enforcement, and migrant encounters at the southern border have dropped to the lowest level since 2017. A total of 42,048 illegal migrants were removed from the United States between January 21 and February 18, according to Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen.

De la Vega said in the interview that he was “illegalized” in the United States. In Colombia, by contrast, he has “freedom of movement” that is “incredibly satisfying.”

It is unclear how Ocasio-Cortez’s office handled de la Vega’s employment status, including whether he or the office paid Social Security taxes on his behalf. De la Vega, though, was barred from working in Congress due to his status as a DACA recipient, according to Migrant Insider.

De la Vega told Migrant Insider that he “lived in fear” because of his illegal status, though he also said he “had a pretty good childhood in New York.”

He suggested that he may return to the United States at some point, though he said that may not be for “many years.”