Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus were — like many others Tuesday night as the results of the race for New York’s 14th Congressional District came in — surprised but excited that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one step closer to becoming the youngest female member of Congress in history. But that was followed by another thought: We need to speak with her. Anybody have her number? “That’s a solidly Democratic seat, so I believe she’ll be the next congresswoman from the 14th District of New York, and we look forward to enthusiastically welcoming her to the Hispanic Caucus,” Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas told The Intercept. “The nation was impressed by how she ran a campaign that was true to herself, emblematic of the place that she comes from, and powered by grassroots energy.” In 1992, Rep. Nydia Velázquez was also a young Puerto Rican woman who unseated an incumbent in New York City. She said she’s always pleased to see more Latinas in public office. “As always, those of us who come from more humble backgrounds, particularly women and people of color, have to work a little more and fight a little harder — but Alexandria has clearly shown she’s got the spirit and the energy to make her voice heard,” she said. Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego added that he was excited to welcome someone “young” and “dynamic” to the Hispanic Caucus. But while Democrats enthusiastically welcome Ocasio-Cortez, embracing the particulars of the platform that fueled her win is a bit of a different story. “We are going to rock the world in the next two years,” Ocasio-Cortez said during her victory speech, standing on the bar in a Bronx pool hall. “We’ve got a whole bunch of primaries to go. When we get to November, we should be electing a caucus.”

She was out early calling to “abolish ICE,” which many feel has become a brutal, unchecked agency with little oversight. Many Hispanic Caucus members, like others Democrats, including progressives, have stopped short of embracing abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement due to lack of clarity over what would replace it, as well as fears that Republicans would use it to accuse them of not wanting immigration enforcement at all and supporting “open borders.” “ICE is rogue and it should be targeting criminals, instead of breaking up families, and that’s why it needs to go back to what the core mission was under INS,” Gallego said, noting that he doesn’t believe Ocasio-Cortez’s support of dissolving ICE is a negative for Democrats. “Clearly it’s been abused, it was abused under President Obama, and now it’s being abused under President Trump.” While Ocasio-Cortez insisted during the campaign that she did not simply support going back to the days of Immigration and Naturalization Services that Gallego cited, she did speak at length about her preference that the Department of Justice oversee enforcement matters related to immigration.

“I’m always glad to have more Boricuas in Congress.”

Velázquez said that while she’s agreed to co-sponsor the legislation to abolish ICE introduced by Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan and Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, she said “abolish ICE” cannot merely become a rallying cry or a slogan. “We need to actively change this administration’s anti-immigrant policies – from reversing ‘zero tolerance’ to protecting Dreamers. This administration is attacking our immigrant neighbors on a multitude of fronts, and we need to fight back on every front,” she told The Intercept. A source close to the Hispanic Caucus asked for anonymity in order to lay out the landscape on abolishing ICE as they see it, ahead of Ocasio-Cortez’s arrival. “It will be interesting to see how much steam the abolish ICE movement picks up, it’s a tricky one,” the source said, describing the general line of thought within the CHC. “There’s a lot of fucking racism out there. If a bunch of Hispanics start supporting abolishing ICE, white people are going to read it as they don’t want to enforce shit at all.” Reached by phone in the midst of a 48-hour whirlwind media tour that has included speaking with Democratic leaders calling to congratulate her, from Sen. Bernie Sanders to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Ocasio-Cortez told The Intercept that the welcome from the Hispanic Caucus members was “really awesome” and said she hopes they can together channel this moment into a jolt of exciting and bold legislation. “As a caucus, we should be championing the Puerto Rico ‘Marshall Plan.’ In my opinion, we should be championing the abolishment of ICE and if not that, focusing on broad-based immigration justice,” she said in a car after filming the Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Thursday. The Puerto Rico “Marshall Plan” is a $146 million legislative package unveiled by Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren in November that would provide financial relief for the government, and billions for economic development, renewable energy, and Medicaid and Medicare parity. Velázquez, who introduced an identical bill in the House, said that she’s looking forward to helping not just New Yorkers, but also the people of Puerto Rico with Ocasio-Cortez. “I’ll look forward to working with her to aid our brothers and sisters on the island. This has been a major priority and passion of mine – before and after Maria – and, of course, I’m always glad to have more Boricuas in Congress.” Asked about the hesitance or refusal she may come across from caucus members to support abolishing ICE, Ocasio-Cortez predicted her stance will create the space to negotiate. “What we can do is — I’m unafraid to champion a really bold and strong stance in the sand, and what that does is give us an anchor, a negotiating point,” she said. “I think the abolishment of ICE makes a lot of sense, and I’m willing to have those conversations and figure out how we get that done as a caucus.”

“I think the abolishment of ICE makes a lot of sense, and I’m willing to have those conversations and figure out how we get that done as a caucus.”