WATCH: Padilla Slams Republicans’ False Narratives to Demonize Immigrants

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, blasted Senate Republicans for holding a hearing entitled "Somali Fraud in Minnesota - The Tip of the Iceberg" to spew sweeping generalizations about crime and demonize immigrant communities. Padilla condemned Republicans' attempts to recycle the tired, anti-immigrant playbook of utilizing isolated criminal cases to paint false narratives, scapegoat entire immigrant communities, and advance Donald Trump's harmful rhetoric.

"What is this hearing really about? It's about something far too familiar - and far more troubling. It's about choosing to point to a few isolated incidents and using them to cast suspicion on entire communities. We've seen this far too often throughout American history: using isolated criminal cases as a pretext to paint entire immigrant communities with the broadest and most damaging brush possible. It's an old playbook. And it's a shameful one."

Today's hearing on alleged Somali fraud took place after many cases had been thoroughly investigated by the Department of Justice, dating back to 2022 during the Biden Administration, resulting in 90 arrests and ongoing prosecutions. Padilla underscored that the Immigration and Nationality Act already includes strict penalties for fraud, along with criminal enforcement mechanisms that are being utilized. He emphasized that fraud of any kind - under both Republican and Democratic administrations - is wrong and should be investigated in accordance with the law.

"Republicans want to take specific, well-documented cases - and again, cases that are already being investigated and prosecuted - and stretch them into a narrative of widespread abuse by immigrant communities more broadly. And we know where this leads. It becomes justification for targeting and expelling entire communities, something that I'm not speculating about - it's happening in real time."

However, Padilla criticized Republicans for conveniently using these cases to unfairly target Somali Americans, sweeping up lawfully admitted refugees and U.S. citizens, in support of President Trump's mass detention and deportation campaign. Over the weekend, the asylum cases of hundreds of Somali immigrants in Minnesota, Illinois, and Nebraska were suddenly rescheduled or recategorized - accelerated by months, and in some cases years - to be heard by the end of next month in order to seemingly fast track their deportation.

Padilla stressed that Republicans' targeting of specific ethnic groups and narrative of widespread immigrant crime are out of line with the facts and verifiable data. Despite Republican fearmongering, studies have repeatedly shown that both legal and undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States. One analysis from the American Immigration Council found that undocumented immigrants are about half as likely as U.S.-born Americans to be arrested for violent crimes and property crimes. Another from the Cato Institute found that immigrants, overall, are 33% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born individuals. Looking specifically at fraud, noncitizens were roughly 8% less likely to be convicted of benefits fraud in 2024, according to data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Additionally, less than 14% of the 400,000 immigrants arrested by Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the first year of this Administration had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses.

"If we're not engaging honestly with these facts, then this hearing is not honestly about rooting out fraud. It seems to me that this hearing is really about demonizing immigrants, especially immigrants of color, and advancing a narrative that does not hold up to scrutiny."

Instead of pushing false narratives, Padilla insisted that if Republicans were serious about combating fraud, they would be examining the myriad of ways the Trump Administration has dismantled systems designed to detect and deter it. He also pointed out that President Trump has continually pardoned wealthy individuals who have been convicted of massive fraud while canceling restitution to their victims. Padilla also slammed Trump's creation of the million-dollar "Gold Card" to offer residency to the highest bidders while smearing hardworking immigrants.

Key Excerpts from Opening Remarks:

• Study after study shows that immigrants - both legal and undocumented - are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States.

• Why is it that at the same time immigrants are being targeted for mass deportation, the President unveiled a million-dollar "Gold Card" - closing the door on doctors, engineers, and teachers while opening it to the highest bidders with little scrutiny?

• They're seeking to perpetuate a tired myth - that all immigrants bring crime with them when they come to this country - despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. So let us be honest about what this hearing is, and what it is not. This hearing is not about facts. It's not about accountability. And it's not about protecting taxpayers.

• It is about fear. It is about scapegoating. It is about demonizing immigrants for political gain. And that may make for a convenient talking point, but it's wrong, and it does not make for responsible governance or policymaking. Mr. Chairman, it's certainly not what the American people expect or deserve from the United States Senate.

Video of Padilla's opening remarks can be seen here and can be downloaded here. His questioning of witnesses during today's hearing can be found here and here.

His closing remarks can be viewed here.

Senator Padilla has been a leading voice in opposition to President Trump's cruel and indiscriminate mass deportation agenda, including against his unprecedented, illegal militarization of Los Angeles and other American cities. Last October, Padilla walked out of Senate Republicans' unserious subcommittee hearing entitled "ICE Under Fire: The Radical Left's Crusade Against Immigration Enforcement," as the Trump Administration conducts violent immigration enforcement actions across the country.

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