Latino Democrats in the House of Representatives spoke out Thursday on a flurry of first-day executive orders from President Donald Trump encouraging increased scrutiny of immigrants’ legal status and rollbacks of paths to citizenship.
At the U.S. Capitol, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) directly addressed the new policies—including a freeze on new asylum cases, an attempted repeal of birthright citizenship, an emergency declaration on the U.S.-Mexico border, and a lifting of restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at schools, churches, and other sensitive locations.
The various orders are an upshot of Trump’s long-running campaign promise to carry out widespread deportations in cities across the country, a move Democratic lawmakers have opposed as unconstitutional.
“Whether we are progressive, moderate, or a little bit more moderate, I think that Dreamers, farm workers, and families bring us together,” said Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York, the first Black chair of the CHC, during the hourlong livestreamed event on Thursday.
“There are other issues such as birthright citizenship, (Temporary Protected Status), and others that are (also) critically important to us,” added Espaillat.
The CHC was one of the first Democratic groups to openly denounce Trump’s new orders, which came within hours of his inauguration on Monday. His speech that day at the Capitol Rotunda included comments on birthright citizenship, the border crisis, and the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires asylum seekers to remain outside of the U.S. while awaiting a decision in immigration courts.
The president also suggested that his administration will focus on removing “criminal aliens” — an inflammatory term referring to convicted immigrants he says were protected by the policies of former President Joe Biden during his time in the White House.
That claim in particular took heat from CHC leaders during their comments on Thursday in Washington.
“President Trump claimed that his administration is launching mass deportation campaigns to get criminals off the street. The vast majority of undocumented immigrants are hardworking people who pay taxes and contribute to American society,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas.
“Trump doesn’t care about keeping Americans safe from crime. We know this because if he did, he wouldn’t have released nearly 1,600 violent criminals who were involved in the January 6th attack,” Castro added.
In total, a dozen Democratic lawmakers spoke at the CHC event, including representatives from several border states and Rep. Ted Lieu of California, vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus. The CHC previously issued a joint statement on birthright citizenship with the chairpersons of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, of which Lieu is a member, and the Congressional Black Caucus.
In his remarks at the Capitol, Espaillat—himself a formerly undocumented person—said his caucus plans to push for a larger voice in the immigration issue at the level of the White House. The changes on the horizon from a reenergized Republican base could affect more than 11 million undocumented Americans and their families.
“In the past, the issue of immigration has been discussed without our presence at the table,” said Espaillat. “We intend to change that. We demand that we are at the table when it’s being discussed, because it impacts our communities disproportionately.”
