Immigration

Immigration is core to America’s strength and has been since our founding. Immigrants invigorate our communities, contribute to our culture, and grow our economy by starting businesses in greater numbers than native-born Americans. But, our immigration system is broken, outdated, and in dire need of reform. There are more than 12 million immigrants currently living in the United States without a pathway to residency or citizenship, and more than 4.4 million close family members waiting abroad to join their loved ones through the family-based immigration system. The time is now to make sure that this system works and works in a way that is humane, efficient, and accessible. But the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant, mass deportation agenda has put all of our rights at risk. 

DACA, TPS, and DED 

That is why I have joined my colleagues in introducing the bipartisan H.R. 1589, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2025 to enable young undocumented students and workers who were brought to this country as children to remain here. The American Dream and Promise Act would establish a process for eligible DACA, Temporary Protected States (TPS), and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients with a pathway to citizenship. This has the potential to provide immigration relief for over 3 million individuals, including over 130,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander immigrants. 

Family-based immigration is an American value and contributes to the economic prosperity and resilience of our nation, but our broken immigration system forces almost 4 million people with approved green card applications to suffer in bureaucracy for years, if not decades. 

That’s why I will once again reintroduce Reuniting Families Act to modernize our family-based immigration system by more than doubling available family-based visas, raising per-country limits, and setting a time limit on visa processing so applicants don’t spend more than a decade waiting for their application to be processed. 

By making fixes that will accelerate family reunification, we will provide much-needed reform to our immigration system, as well as help our economy. Family immigration means welcoming immigrants who can rely on their parents to help raise their kids while they hold down a job, or can find financing for their business through their family when a bank says no.

Muslim Ban

As one of his first acts as President in 2017, former President Trump issued a bigoted travel Ban that tore families apart and caused misery and psychological trauma. Spouses and fiancés were separated. Weddings, funerals, graduations were missed. Over 5,000 adopted children of US citizens couldn’t join their families. While President Biden rescinded all versions of the ban on his first day in office, President Trump has revived this ugly effort by implementing yet another bigoted travel ban, this time banning travel to the U.S. from 12 countries and severely restricting travel from another seven, with plans to expand the ban to 36 more. These bans are rooted in the same xenophobia as his original Muslim ban and do nothing to make us safer.

That is why I introduced H.R. 924 National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act. The NO BAN Act would strengthen the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, and restore checks and balances by limiting overly broad executive authority to issue future travel bans. My bill requires a report on the total number of waivers that were granted and the total number that were denied, so we know the truth about what's happening. And it says that if a President does want to implement such a ban, they will have to produce actual evidence of a threat, so that in the future, no individuals are denied entry into the U.S. solely based on their religion. 

Protecting Immigrant Workers from Exploitation and Retaliation

Immigrants from across the country report that some employers threaten them with deportation to intimidate them from protecting themselves against abuse. That’s why I introduced the Protecting Our Workers from Exploitation and Retaliation (POWER) Act to stop disreputable employers from exploiting immigrants. While current law does protect all workers regardless of immigration status, it doesn't go far enough to protect the victims of this abuse. The POWER Act would change that. My bill allows worker protection agencies to require the Department of Homeland Security to provide immigrants with temporary lawful status and an employment authorization if they have filed a workplace claim against an unscrupulous employer.

Border Policy

Our border policies are in desperate need of reform to ensure that our immigration system is working in the most effective and humane way possible. That’s why I support efforts to modernize our border through improved technology that can stop the flow of deadly drugs like fentanyl and halt transnational criminal activity. I also support providing more resources and funding to ensure that our borders are equipped with enough personnel and asylum agents to enable those seeking refuge have the opportunity to do so.

Safeguarding the Right to Asylum

I do not believe that immigrants seeking refuge in the United States should be labeled as criminals. They should be afforded fair, speedy proceedings and due process rights as dictated by our domestic laws and treaty obligations. And children who enter the country either unaccompanied or with family should never be separated from their loved ones. We need to do more to help children and their families who have no choice but to flee dangerous conditions and seek refuge in the United States by making sure that everyone claiming asylum is held in less restrictive settings and allowed to make their case before an immigration judge.

Immigration Enforcement Accountability 

President Trump is using cruel and indiscriminate immigration raids to terrorize immigrants, trample on our rights and due process, and intimidate innocent people so he can take more power for himself and target all Californians, not just immigrants. 

Masked ICE agents have stormed into our community, failed to provide any identification, brandished weapons at civilians for recording the incidents, and disappeared our neighbors off the streets, sometimes to other states or even other country’s prisons. That’s why I have recently introduced H.R. 4667, the VISIBLE Act to ensure ICE is held accountable by prohibiting all immigration enforcement officers from wearing non-medical face coverings, requiring them to display their name or badge number and the agency they represent, and mandating DHS to implement disciplinary procedures for agents’ violations of the law. 

We must also ensure that Members of Congress maintain their ability to conduct oversight at immigration detention centers, which is expressly permitted by law. But, since the beginning of the second Trump administration, I have been unlawfully denied entrance twice when attempting to conduct oversight at these facilities. One of these facilities is the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino, California. For over a decade, I have called for the closure of this facility because of its long-documented violations of civil and human rights of detainees inside the facility. While the facility was on the brink of closure in late 2024, its capacity has been reinstated to facilitate the Trump administration’s mass ICE raids. I will continue to fight for my ability to conduct legal oversight at Adelanto and all ICE detention facilities to ensure that all detainees are afforded the rights, due process, and humanity they are owed. 

I do not believe that immigrants seeking refuge in the United States should be labeled as criminals. They should be afforded fair, speedy proceedings and due process rights as dictated by our laws. And children who enter the country either unaccompanied or with family should never be separated from their loved ones. We need to do more to help children and their families who have no choice but to flee dangerous conditions and seek refuge in the United States by making sure that everyone claiming asylum is held in less restrictive settings and allowed to make their case before an immigration judge.