I’ve Taught Immigration Law and Led Immigration Reform in Congress. What Trump is Doing Is Horrific

Immigration has made America prosperous and a country with a big future. As the granddaughter of immigrants, I’ve dedicated my public service career to making sure America is protected by preserving and improving our immigration system. Before I ever ran for elected office, I was an immigration attorney. Not only that, but I may be the only person serving in Congress to have ever taught immigration law.

Let me just say that if Donald Trump were in my class, he would not be achieving academic success.

Since the beginning of Trump’s second term, we have seen his Administration launch unprecedented and, in many cases, unlawful attacks against immigrants in our country. These actions have had a detrimental impact on communities across America.

While he was running for President, you may recall that Trump and his surrogates said that his immigration agenda would focus on deporting “violent criminals” off our streets. Few people would have objected to that mission. Yet, the past 8 months have been mostly about intimidating and harassing law-abiding residents.

Our neighbors, co-workers, friends, and families are constantly having to watch over their shoulders for fear that masked, heavily armed agents in unmarked cars will pull up and take them away. We’ve all seen the horrific videos of people being detained aggressively, and sometimes violently, as agents refuse to identify themselves or the agencies for which they work.

On his very first day in office, Trump undid a Biden-era rule that protected certain areas like churches, schools, and hospitals from immigration raids. Since then, immigration officers have stormed into these places that were once considered safe. Children are missing their education because their parents are scared that they won’t make it back home. Crops are going unpicked because farm workers are terrified of being deported when showing up for an honest day’s work.

These raids are being put on steroids by the Big Ugly Bill passed by Trump and congressional Republicans. Because of that bill, ICE will have more funding than most foreign militaries and with even fewer restraints. Not only that, but the Supreme Court in September unpaused a lower court’s ruling that prevented officers from using ethnicity as a factor in immigration raids. This is going to disproportionately harm Latino communities, but it is a decision that should concern every American. When due process doesn’t exist for one group, it doesn’t exist for anyone. This dystopian era of disappearing people and ignoring due process is not the America I grew up in, and it’s not the America I want to leave to my grandsons.

I have always worked and will continue to work for common sense and humane reform of our immigration system. This Congress, I have re-introduced two bills that would help improve our immigration system, respect the rights of individuals regardless of their immigration status, and strengthen our economy.

If passed, my Farm Workforce Modernization Act would make essential changes to the visa system in order to stabilize our agricultural sector. It’s a bipartisan bill that I originally negotiated with Republican colleagues over eight months in 2019 with input from farmers, agricultural stakeholders, labor organizations, and farmworker advocates. It passed the House twice – once in December 2019 and once in March 2021 – and I reintroduced the bill again this year in May. I remain hopeful that my Republican colleagues see this bill for what it is – a sensible and straightforward way that we can help America’s farmers and encourage legal immigration.

This summer, Senator Alex Padilla and I reintroduced our registry bill to update a historically bipartisan provision that provides lawful permanent resident status to vetted immigrants who have been a part of our communities for years. Providing stability to our communities and our workforces – versus terrorizing them – will make our country stronger and our communities safer.

National Hispanic Heritage Month this year has certainly felt bittersweet. It has always been a time to reflect on the accomplishments and the contributions that Hispanic Americans have made to our country’s rich cultural tapestry. Yet this year has been painful and saddening for so many Latino communities. The disrespect and demonization must stop.

Our country was founded by immigrants who came seeking a better life. America needs laws, but one of America’s greatest assets is the hard work and determination of immigrants seeking to live up to their full potential and to build better lives for their families. As long as I’m in Congress, I will always raise my voice to defend these communities and demand the dignity and respect they deserve.

(*) Democrat Rep. Zoe Lofgren represents District 18 in California, which has a 67% Hispanic population.

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