Trump Targeting Immigrant Communities: Ranking Member Jaypal Opening Statement

Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today. I want to start by offering my deepest condolences to you, Mrs. Mitner. As a mother myself, I just cannot imagine the pain that you are experiencing in losing your daughter far, far, far too soon. I'm sorry for your loss. I also understand that we're joined by people from the Fairfax community today, and I want to welcome you. If you're willing, would you please stand up if you're from Fairfax County? Wow, a lot of you. And please remain standing if you support immigrants and support policies that make sure that everyone feels safe in calling 9-1-1. I want to note for the record that everyone has remained standing, and it looks to be a crowd of over 50 people, so thank you so much for being here. You may be seated. This hearing is unfortunately another in a series of hearings that the majority has held that consistently attack trust policies that have upheld the necessary and important division between the enforcement of federal civil immigration law and the enforcement of local criminal laws. This division has proven over and over again in documented research to be essential in keeping all communities safe and ensuring that people come forward to report crimes. Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, and last year, Republicans gave the Department of Homeland Security over $170 billion in their Big Bad Betrayal bill to meet the arbitrary immigrant arrest quotas of Stephen Miller and to carry out Donald Trump's cruel mass deportation agenda. Using this funding, ICE doubled in size, DHS officers killed two U.S. citizens in cold blood in Minnesota, beat and detained countless U.S. citizens for exercising their First Amendment rights, and broke down doors of U.S. citizens without a warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment. We know of at least one U.S. citizen who has been arrested by ICE three times despite repeatedly informing agents that he is a U.S. citizen. Another 18-year-old U.S. citizen with terminal cancer spent the last weeks of his life begging ICE to release his parents so that he could see them before he died. They reunited one day before he died. And that is just what they've Americans. ICE is also subjecting hundreds of parents and children to months in immigration prisons, conducted senseless deportations of military veterans, separated families, massively increased immigration detention, resulting in a record 48 deaths in ICE detention just since President Trump took office. A recent political analysis revealed that judges have ruled in at least 10,000 cases that the detention was illegal with no due process, no opportunity for detainees to plead their cases. 10,000 people, including a nursing mother who was separated from her one-year-old child despite active legal refugee status, and a five-year-old boy detained by ICE on his way home from school. More than 425 judges have heard cases and reached the same conclusions about the illegality of Donald Trump's mass detention policies, including, by the way, a majority of Trump-appointed judges. Three circuit courts have also now ruled the policy illegal. The impact of these illegal policies is not just being felt by immigrants. It's ripping apart entire communities across the country, creating fear and terror, and also negatively impacting opportunities for all Americans. A new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research just concluded that Trump's immigration raids are now even weighing on the labor market, leading to fewer jobs for U.S.-born men without a college degree. Despite all of this, Republicans have refused to stop these illegal, unconstitutional, and cruel policies. They have refused to address the fact that while their anti-immigrant strategies may have worked before, they don't work anymore. Today, more than 60% of Americans disapprove of Trump's immigration policies. Americans want Trump and Republicans to focus on lowering their gas prices, lowering their grocery costs. They want Republicans to stop giving tax breaks to billionaires while stripping health care from tens of millions of Americans. But Donald Trump said it himself just a few days ago. In his own words, Trump said, quote, I don't think about the financial situation of Americans. Really? That is exactly why Republicans are now planning to give ICE and Border Patrol an additional $70 billion with no oversight or accountability, and yet having a hearing this morning to complain that Fairfax County will not do ICE's job for them. Give me a break. DHS has plenty of money to hire all the new immigration enforcement agents they want. They don't need to commandeer the local police officers who are hard at work maintaining Fairfax's status as the safest county of its size in the United States. In one of the great ironies, here we are in the immigration subcommittee having a hearing about the prosecutorial decisions of a county attorney and the jail policies of a county sheriff. Whatever happened to the Republican Party that believed in local government? There are many reasons that you will hear that states and localities choose not to or are unable to conduct immigration enforcement on behalf of the federal government. Numerous court orders have declared immigration detainers unlawful violations of the Fourth Amendment, and state and local officials don't want to spend huge amounts of money on court cases. State constitutions often contain prohibitions, and local police departments want to prioritize their already scarce resources to encourage the trust of people to come forward and report crimes without worrying about their own immigration status. The major cities chiefs association has repeatedly reaffirmed that cooperation with the immigrant community is essential to solve crime and prevent further criminal activity within the entire community, including ensuring protections for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. In 2019, my home state of Washington passed the bipartisan Keep Washington Working Act for all these reasons, as have many states across the country. Courts have ruled multiple times that states have the right to enact laws like the Keep Washington Working Act. These laws do allow information sharing with the federal government when necessary for an ongoing criminal investigation or pursuant to a court order or judicial warrant. This committee should be holding hearings on the unconstitutionality of this administration's policies, on the killing of American citizens by ICE and CBP, but instead we're doing yet another hearing designed to further this administration's anti-immigrant agenda and distract people from the real issues at hand. The American people deserve better. I look forward to hearing from all of our witnesses today and I yield back.