TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICIES

On 2025-04-30, Representative Troy A. Carter (D-LA-2) delivered a floor speech titled "TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICIES" in the House.

TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICIES

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 72 (Wednesday, April 30, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 72 (Wednesday, April 30, 2025)] [House] [Pages H1767-H1772] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICIES (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Takano of California was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.) General Leave Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from California? There was no objection. Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the House for a Special Order hour with my Congressional Progressive Caucus colleagues. I do so on the 100th day of the Trump administration, and I note that this is a day when we received the news that our economy has contracted and that we are witnessing confusion, chaos in our markets, and uncertainty about our economic future. We can also mark this day by stating that our country is in the midst of a constitutional crisis. The administration is disappearing individuals without due process in defiance of court orders. They are ripping people from their homes and communities, putting them on secretive flights, and sending them overseas, including more than 280 individuals sent to the brutal CECOT prison in El Salvador without so much as a hearing. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the administration must facilitate the return of one such man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father, but the executive branch has ignored the highest Court in the land, saying that their own views matter more. Just last night, the President of the United States admitted in a public interview that he could return Mr. Abrego Garcia if he wanted to, but he is choosing not to. He has openly mused about sending American citizens to El Salvador next because it always starts with those without power, the most vulnerable, but it never ends there, and that should terrify every American. I want to take the opportunity to draw attention to another case that has captured the public conscience, that of Andry Jose Hernandez Romero, a 31-year-old gay Venezuelan makeup artist and asylum seeker who was forcibly disappeared without due process. Andry entered the United States legally, fleeing persecution for his sexual orientation and political beliefs. He passed an initial asylum screening and had no criminal record. Yet, without warning or due process, he was forcibly removed to El Salvador and imprisoned in the notorious CECOT facility. What is the evidence against him? A couple of crown tattoos above the names ``Mom'' and ``Dad,'' symbols of his love for his hometown's Three Kings Day celebrations. Andry's case exemplifies the dangers of unchecked executive power and what happens when the rule of law is pushed aside. I call on President Trump to free Andry. There are so many others to talk about: students who have been snatched off the streets, young American citizens kicked out without so much as a hearing, and the list goes on and on. I want to be clear that this is not just about immigrants. This is bigger than that. If the government can violate the Constitution with impunity in these cases, then it can do so anywhere to anyone. To the Americans listening at home, I ask you: How would you feel if masked men grabbed you in broad daylight and refused to show their ID? I know I would be terrified, and I bet you would be, too. Today, we will hear from a number of my Congressional Progressive Caucus colleagues as we bring a spotlight to these injustices. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Escobar). Ms. ESCOBAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Takano for yielding. I am so grateful for his leadership and for bringing us together on the House floor to talk about what is happening here in our country every day. Americans are sounding the alarm about the crisis that our country is in. It is not just an economic crisis, as we see our country sinking very quickly into an economic crisis, which is being reflected in Donald Trump's poll numbers. In fact, his sinking poll numbers are even being reflected in the issue that many consider to be his strong suit with the American people, which is immigration. Americans are now realizing that Donald Trump's anti-immigrant policies are targeting everyone in our country, including U.S. citizens. When Donald Trump eliminates due process for immigrants, whether it is [[Page H1768]] for legal immigrants or students who are here with legitimate visas, he is impacting due process for all of us. When Donald Trump ignores an order from the Supreme Court to bring back a wrongfully deported immigrant, he is violating the rule of law, which impacts all of us. Mr. Speaker, when Donald Trump sends immigrants to a gulag in a foreign country, believe him when he tells you that he will be doing this to U.S. citizens next. In fact, he has already begun deporting U.S. citizen children. Just today, in the House Judiciary Committee, as the Judiciary Committee was marking up the reconciliation package, which, unfortunately, many Republicans will just blindly approve, Judiciary Committee Republicans refused to protect U.S. citizens from deportation. It is shocking, I know. Here is the thing: We can have strong border security and a fair and humane immigration system that works for our Nation. That is not what Donald Trump is doing. He is acting like a tyrant, and he will keep undermining our democracy, our country, and the rule of law as long as compliant Republicans allow him to. Will there be just four Republicans who will stand with us and their constituents to protect the Constitution, the rule of law, and law and order in this country? I hope so. Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Escobar for her comments. I am outraged to hear that Republicans on the Judiciary Committee would not protect citizens from deportation. We are talking about citizens. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Ramirez). {time} 1900 Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, fascism always demands a public enemy. Through lies and scapegoating, the Trump administration has tried to make immigrants the enemy. They have tried to convince us that the problem isn't their abuses of power or the unchecked greed of multinational corporations but it is immigrants. In their 100 days in office, the Trump administration and Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, have abused the power of the Department of Homeland Security to pursue a campaign of persecution, of mass incarceration, and of deportation. Day after day, they have disregarded the authority of Congress, the laws of the land, and the constitutional rights of residents, the courts, due process, and every check and balance that protects us from fascist authoritarians. No one has been spared from their abusive authoritarian assault, not United States citizens, children with cancer, not pregnant women, not fathers with legal residency, not organ donors, not student activists, not professors, not green card holders, not asylees, not DACA recipients. Trump and Noem have wasted millions of taxpayer dollars in their criminal acts from a $200 million anti-immigrant ad campaign to $46 million paid to illegally detain people in offshore prisons to more than $300 million to militarize and end parole and due process at our borders. There is no end to how they will abuse their power, and we have to say: Enough. As I demanded yesterday in the Homeland Security Committee, Noem must step down. We can't give one more dollar to this administration to continue its unconstitutional, anti-immigrant, authoritarian agenda. I will close with this: Today, Trump, Noem, and the administration have made the immigrants the enemy. Tomorrow, it will be whoever they deem undesirable. Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Ramirez for standing up for the rule of law. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Carter.) Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with great concern regarding our First and Fifth Amendment rights. Our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and right to due process are under attack by the Musk-Trump administration. You don't have to like what someone says philosophically, politically, or otherwise, but free speech is not based on what you like or dislike or choose to hear or not hear; it is based on one's ability to express themselves. It is not conditioned on what you like to hear. Free speech is free speech. We will not stand by while they violate the principles that form the bedrock of our democracy. Right now, this administration is defying a Supreme Court decision that ordered them to facilitate the return of an individual who was deported without due process. Alongside others, he was sent to an inhumane prison in a different country without a hearing. This happened in the United States, violating his right to due process. There are many individuals whose stories deserve to be told, so today I am going to highlight just a few. Last week, I led a bicameral codel to two ICE detention facilities in Louisiana where Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk, and Wendy Brito are being held. Mahmoud Khalil is a lawful permanent resident and Columbia graduate student who was detained because of his participation in a peaceful protest. I had an opportunity to sit and visit with him. He said, without fear of contradiction: I am not anti-Semitic. I am not pro- Hamas. I am simply concerned about my homeland and the treatment of the people that are there. Rumeysa Ozturk is a Ph.D. student detained because she wrote an op-ed in her school newspaper. Wendy Brito, a mother of three U.S. citizens, who may one day be U.S. Senators. A U.S. citizen right here on our ho