A New York socialist just called America an empire and vowed to fight for Mexico from inside Congress.
Now federal authorities are being asked to investigate her under a 1799 law that carries criminal penalties.
The group she met with – and called her comrades – has a problem that U.S. prosecutors are already tracking.
Valdez Called America an Empire and Vowed to Abolish ICE after Meeting with Morena Party Officials
Claire Valdez is the Democrat nominee for New York's 7th Congressional District, seeking the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
She is also a card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Valdez posted a declaration that would have been unthinkable from any previous generation of American politicians.
"215 years ago, Mexicans fought an empire that demanded our land and our labor. And we won," she wrote. "I'll carry that fight with me to Congress as New York's first Mexican American representative."
She was not finished.
"And I'm strengthened not just by Mexico's history but its present. Last month I met comrades in Morena who are standing up to the empires and corporations that have always taken from us – and building a government for the working class."
She closed with "¡Viva la Independencia, Viva México!"
The America she called an empire is the country whose congressional seat she is seeking.
The "comrades" she referenced are members of Morena – Mexico's ruling left-wing party.
Republican Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas saw it immediately.
"Not sure if you're aware of this, but you will be representing the United States of America in Congress and not Mexico," Gill shot back on social media.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna was just as direct: "You running for Congress in the US? Or Mexico?"
Logan Act Probe Sought as Morena Party Faces Cartel Corruption Questions
Luna did not stop at a Twitter callout. On Fox News, she called Valdez's pledge flatly embarrassing – and then went further.
"She's calling out corporations, but she can't call out the corrupt government of Mexico that's responsible to one of the bloodiest election cycles in the last decade with people actually running for office," Luna told The Will Cain Show.
She added she would not be surprised if people appearing in a photo from Valdez's post "are actually on the cut from cartel, because, frankly, the cartel was murdering people that were speaking out about corruption within the government of Mexico."
This is the organization Claire Valdez traveled to meet.
Alicia Nieves, an immigration attorney, went straight to the top. She tagged Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau – previously U.S. Ambassador to Mexico – in a public post demanding a federal investigation.
"Given that she is currently a congressional nominee, not a member of Congress, and appears to have discussed facilitating support contrary to current U.S. policy as well as describing our country an 'empire' that has 'stolen from us' … I hope the administration will review whether these communications warrant investigation under the Logan Act," Nieves wrote.
Passed in 1799, the Logan Act makes it a federal crime for private citizens to conduct unauthorized negotiations with foreign governments against U.S. interests. Only two Americans have ever faced proceedings under it. Neither was convicted.
Democrats weaponized the Logan Act against Donald Trump.
Now it has a new target.
Valdez's platform makes the full picture clear. At a campaign rally, she asked the crowd: "Are we ready to free Palestine, are we ready to abolish ICE, are we ready to win Medicare for All, housing for all, and unions for all?"
This is the DSA menu. She is ordering everything on it.
Every member of Congress takes an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."
Calling America an empire is one thing. Traveling to Mexico to meet with a ruling party facing cartel scrutiny and pledging to carry their fight to Congress is another. That oath is going to be a problem.
The Washington Times reported this summer that DSA-backed candidates in 2026 are running on a platform that includes abolishing the presidency and disbanding the U.S. Senate.
Valdez fits that profile exactly.
What makes this case different is the meeting. It is not a rhetorical flourish or campaign theater. She traveled to Mexico. She sat down with Morena officials. She came home and declared their struggle her own.
That is a factual sequence – not a metaphor.
She already said exactly where she stands. The only question is whether anyone in New York plans to hold her to it.
Sources:
- Fox News Digital, "Socialist Claire Valdez faces calls for federal probe after Mexico 'fight' pledge," Fox News, September 18, 2026.
- "GOP Rep. Luna: DSA Congressional Hopeful Claire Valdez Pledge to Fight for Mexico Is Embarrassing," Breitbart, September 19, 2026.
- "DSA-backed candidates cannot legally be seated in Congress," The Washington Times, July 30, 2026.