Washington, D.C. (May 14, 2026)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, led subcommittee Democrats in exposing House Republicans’ coercive scheme to strong-arm states and localities into enforcing Trump’s extremist mass-deportation agenda—threatening to strip away billions in critical law enforcement and public safety funding to force compliance. The hearing included testimony from: David J. Bier, The Selz Foundation Chair in Immigration Policy at the Cato Institute; Professor Jane Stoever, University of California, Irvine School of Law; Steve Descano, County Attorney, Fairfax County; Stacey Kincaid, Sheriff, Fairfax County; Cheryl Minter, mother of Stephanie Minter; Jason Miyares, former Virginia Attorney General; Sean Kennedy, Member, Fairfax County Criminal Justice Advisory Board, President, Virginians for Safe Communities. The Judiciary Committee is focusing on one of the safest counties in America instead of holding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accountable for killing Americans, failing to target the worst of the worst and violating the Constitution. - Ranking Member Raskin said: “This hearing would probably be better taking place in Richmond before the General Assembly, because we’re doing a deep dive into the prosecutorial and jail policy decisions of one county, Fairfax County, which was recently ranked, I noted, by the Major Cities Chiefs Association as the safest county of its size in the entire United States of America. So, its people, its elected officials, certainly do not deserve the contempt and the derision of this Committee.”
- Ranking Member Jayapal said: “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 greatest 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?”
- Rep. Jerry Nadler said: “Clearly, Republicans have no desire to conduct oversight of the Trump Administration's brutal and reckless campaign to strike fear in immigrant communities across the country. They don’t want to draw more attention to an out-of-control DHS that lets masked agents murder American citizens and tear children away from their parents.”
- Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon said: “The majority of folks who have been detained by ICE have no criminal record here or in their home countries. And that’s according to the agency’s own data. While ICE and CBP claim to be claim to be focusing on the worst of the worst, instead, they’ve gone after toddlers with Spiderman backpacks, parents taking their kids to school or to the hospital for cancer treatment, hard-working people showing up at work, spouses of military veterans and active duty service members, and law-abiding people who are showing up for their interviews and court hearings as they are following the rules to do what they need to do to become citizens or obtain other forms of legal status. So, who does any of this make more safe?”
The Trump Administration and House Republicans are threatening billions in public safety funding to force states and cities to support mass deportations—undermining local law enforcement and putting communities at risk. - Ranking Member Jayapal asked: “Republicans want to force states and localities to comply with these mass deportation policies, and they want to threaten to cut billions in law enforcement, public safety and national security funding to the jurisdictions that refuse to comply. Can the federal government force states and localities to do the federal government's job?” Mr. Bier responded: “The Tenth Amendment puts the firewall in place. We have a system of federalism. The Supreme Court has been quite clear on this. You cannot force state and local governments to do what you want.”
- Ranking Member Jayapal said: “Immigrant women experienced domestic violence at rates nearly three times the national average and are often among the most vulnerable because the fear of deportation can keep them trapped in these abusive situations. […] When immigrant communities know that calling 911 will not result in deportation for themselves or a family member, they’re more willing to report and help law enforcement solve crimes. Can you discuss how local police working too closely with ICE can undermine that trust, and whether this Administration's aggressive immigration policies are making it harder for domestic violence survivors to come forward and seek help?” Professor Stoever said: “It absolutely undermines trust when you have law enforcement, and that the line between law enforcement and immigration enforcement is blurred. When you call the police, you don’t know when they show up at your door. Are they there to help or to deport you? And so, it's absolutely created a chilling effect and really suppressed people coming forward to get help, which then causes greater danger for the broader community.”
- Rep. Deborah Ross said: “State and local law enforcement officers know how to do their jobs. You have to build trust with community members in order to do your job. You have to build trust with those members to get them to bring crimes to your attention. And to get the evidence you need to prosecute people who have done things that are just horrible, like in the case of Ms. Minter, victims of crime also need to know that if they go to law enforcement to report a crime, they will not themselves be either detained or deported or something have something happen to them. Otherwise, we won't be able to deal with people in a civil society."
- Rep. Scanlon said: “Our Republican colleagues have tried to say this is about fighting crime, but in pursuit of this Administration’s indiscriminate crackdown, they're diverting federal law enforcement, prosecutors, and resources away from serious threats, including child exploitation, fentanyl trafficking, and domestic terrorism. So this is really misguided. It seems to be entirely about politics and not about actual safety.”
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