House Democrats showed support Monday for their colleagues’ efforts to push back on President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Three House Democrats from California — Reps. Maxine Waters, Jimmy Gomez, and Norma Torres — were barred over the weekend from entering federal detention facilities to check on people detained as a result of immigration raids in Los Angeles and the protests associated with them.
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“We have to let folks know that regular citizens understand the impact of these policies and these decisions, because sometimes people not paying close attention, they think it’s just another Democrat- Republican fight in D.C.,” Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) told the Washington Examiner.
“I don’t think there’s any bad way to mobilize folks and get the word out and let people know what’s going on,” he later added.
As the midterm elections approach, Democrats are searching for messaging that sticks after their loss in 2024, when the GOP secured a trifecta in Washington for the next two years. Republicans, in contrast, feel confident in their messaging surrounding Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) told the Washington Examiner that Democrats need a “larger vision” on immigration policy in addition to what they are already doing to combat Trump’s policies.
“We need to keep fighting, but at some point we also need to have a bigger vision, which this president lacks,” Thanedar said.
Democrats argued that Trump’s immigration policies are harmful.
“I think we should talk about how we’re a nation of immigrants, and that we want to have an immigration system that serves our nation well,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) said.
This is not the first time House Democrats have tried to enter ICE facilities since Trump took office. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) was charged last month with assaulting federal law enforcement after she was joined by Reps. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) for the May 9 protest at the ICE-run Delaney Hall detention facility. Her Democratic colleagues rushed to rally behind her, as the GOP condemned her actions.
“They’re trying to scare people to not ask questions, not do oversight,” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) told the Washington Examiner last month. “They’ve clearly got the majority because there’s no oversight going on, and that’s why there’s so much chaos and corruption and cruelty from this White House, which the American people hate.”
Another California Democrat, Rep. Sara Jacobs, expressed her support for the protests by dining at a restaurant that had been subject to an ICE raid.
“These immigration raids don’t define us, but our response to them does,” Jacobs wrote on X. “We will continue to stand with our immigrant communities.”
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Republicans, meanwhile, have begun campaigning against California Democrats for their handling of the raids. Many in the party feel confident they have a political advantage on the issues of immigration and the border.
The National Republican Congressional Committee sent a slew of emails attacking Democrats for “staying silent” regarding the protests in Los Angeles.
Christian Martinez, a spokesman for the NRCC, said that Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) is “a spineless politician who watched illegals burn Los Angeles to score political points with the out-of-touch, radical Left. While Californians feared for their safety, Horsford chose to stand with violent illegal criminals over Americans.”
Still, Democrats said they would not back down from criticizing the administration for its handling of the raids.
“We have to be fearless. I think we cannot let them scare us,” Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) told the Washington Examiner. “We can’t let them silence us or intimidate us.”
Riots erupted in Los Angeles on Friday following ICE raids across the city after federal agents arrested about 44 immigrants in Paramount, California. Federal agents executed search warrants at three locations, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS arrested 118 illegal immigrants in the Los Angeles area over the week, including the 44 detained in Paramount and five the agency identified as gang members, according to the BBC.
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Waters went to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, aiming to see labor leader David Huerta, who was arrested while protesting the ICE raids. A video of Waters trying to get into the center was posted, and it showed the door being shut in the congresswoman’s face as she said, “I need to get in.” She unsuccessfully cited her “congressional authority.”
“Today, I came to the Metropolitan Detention Center to exercise my constitutional rights as a Member of Congress to check on the safety and conditions of SEIU California President David Huerta, who was arrested by ICE,” Waters wrote on X.
All of this sparked a back-and-forth between the president and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). Trump expressed support for Newsom’s arrest Monday after the governor dared “border czar” Tom Homan to arrest him following the mobilization of the National Guard.