Washington, D.C. (April 10, 2025)—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 Committee Democrats in rebuking the Trump Administration’s chaotic and lawless immigration enforcement, including their reckless diversion of state and local law enforcement resources, which makes it harder for police to do their jobs and makes all of us less safe.
The hearing included testimony from: Major Neill Franklin (Ret.), Baltimore and Maryland State Police Departments; Sheriff Dale Wagner, Adams County, Washington State; Danielle Carter-Walters, Chicago Resident; Vice President, Chicago Flips Red; and RJ Hauman, President, National Immigration Center for Enforcement.
Democrats explained how the Trump Administration’s immigration policy is threatening public safety.
Ranking Member Jayapal said: “They are going after every single immigrant in America, fabricating stories about these immigrants being ‘criminals,’ even deporting them to other countries in violation of judicial orders. All of this leads us to ask once again, as the Fourth Circuit said earlier this week, in the case of a Maryland father who was ‘mistakenly’ deported to a Salvadoran prison by the Trump Administration, ‘If due process is of no moment, what is stopping the Government from removing and refusing to return a lawful permanent resident or even a natural born citizen?’ That is a quote from the judge in the decision.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler said: “The Trump Administration, after pardoning hundreds of violent criminals, has launched a reckless, chaotic, and inhumane immigration policy that is making our communities less safe. The administration and, as we heard today, the Chairman of this Committee, speak as if all immigrants are criminals. The administration is draining resources away from other important law enforcement priorities and is even targeting legal immigrants and vulnerable populations.”
Rep. Chuy García explained: “The Republican playbook on immigration is dishonest and cruel. Republicans have lifted up some tragedies that involve immigrants committing a few crimes; this is the exception, not the rule. I live in an immigrant neighborhood in Chicago. I know what it’s like. But the antidote to dishonesty is truth. […] The truth here is that there’s significant evidence that welcoming jurisdictions have lower crime rates, lower poverty rates, lower reliance on public assistance and lower unemployment.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett said: “I’m a bit surprised that Republicans aren’t up in arms with Trump detaining and deporting U.S. citizens and people who are lawfully present here in the United States. What Trump and ICE are doing is a disgrace and it’s all being done without respect for our laws. For example, Mr. Neri Alvarado, a Dallas-based baker was arrested and deported to an El Salvador prison for having an autism awareness tattoo in honor of his 15-year-old autistic brother. This was done despite never having been to El Salvador, despite having no gang affiliation, and despite having no organized crime connection. He was deported because ICE agents have been detaining all Venezuelans with tattoos.’”
Democrats and witnesses detailed how the Trump Administration is attempting to coerce states, cities, and localities into doing immigration enforcement—which is the responsibility of the federal government—even if they lack the resources to do so.
Ranking Member Raskin said: “The Trump Administration is using threats and coercion to try to force state and local cops to use their limited resources to arrest and detain students, fathers, mothers, and law-abiding community members. That means fewer cops, less money, fewer resources to focus on protecting communities from actual violent threats and gangs and the scourge of gun violence and drugs and drunk driving, and so on.”
Ranking Member Jayapal said: “There are a lot of reasons why states and localities have adopted policies to leave immigration enforcement to federal government where it belongs. For some, it’s about fostering trust with local communities. When immigrant communities know that calling 911 won’t result in deportation for themselves or a family member, they are actually more willing to report and help law enforcement solve crimes, which makes all of us safer.”
Raking Member Raskin asked Major Franklin about the limited bandwidth of cities to undergo massive raids at the direction of the federal government. Major Franklin replied: “We don’t have the resources for that. We don’t have the people for that. We’re struggling to find people, to hire people, and we just don’t have the resources. We have calls waiting, we’re call hopping…” Ranking Member Raskin said: “We spend millions and millions of dollars just flying Donald Trump down in Florida to Mar-a-Lago to go play golf while he’s crashing the stock market. Why doesn’t the federal government spend that money, a locality might say.”
Rep. Deborah Ross asked Mayor Frankin to speak to “how efforts by this administration to destroy relationships between the immigrant community and local police officers would be detrimental to public safety.” Major Franklin explained: “I took an oath, not just to the Constitution, but to the people that I serve, to protect everyone who’s in my community, no matter what their status is. And in order for me to do that, and my comrades to do that, you’ve got to have trust. You’ve got to build trust if you’re going to get the information you need, so that people aren’t fearful in coming forward to report. They don’t want to be victimized. They don’t want their friends and family victimized. They want people held accountable, and they want to be able to come forward and trust us and not and not fear them or their friends being deported from the United States.”
Ranking Member Raskin said: “It’s amazing to me that rather than engage in the hard work, maybe not even so hard anymore, of coming up with a bipartisan immigration solution, we would rather be beating up on local governments for not doing the job of the federal government.”
