Dexter Highlights Human Toll of Trump’s Immigration Machine; Elevates Merlos Family’s Story on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Congresswoman Maxine Dexter, M.D. (OR-03) joined House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Ranking Member Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) for a shadow hearing titled Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump's Assault Destroys U.S. Families and Communities.

The shadow hearing spotlighted the human and economic costs of Trump's mass deportation campaign, including the case of the Merlos familyin Oregon. Jackie Merlos and her four U.S. citizen children were detained for weeks in a cell and now remain separated from their mother, who has not been charged with a crime. The panel featured testimony from Mimi Lettunich, the caregiver for the childrenwhile their mother is detained.

"Trump's immigration agenda is not just misguided. As we have heard today, it is cruel, chaotic, and lawless," Dexter said during the hearing. She went onto recount her experience attempting to free the Merlos children and connect the family with legal counsel while detained.

"When I was able to see Jackie and the children, it was exactly as described: it felt like a zoo. They didn't know who I was when I walked in. Jackie was kneeling with the four children, praying. She looked up, asked not to be interrupted, and kept praying. I cannot describe the impression it left on me-four small children in what was probably a 10-by-10 cell, behind soundproof glass, with a gray cement bench they were kneeling on, thin mats on the floor, and a toilet in the corner. It is absolutely insane that this is what we have done to this family ... the fact that [Trump has] traumatized them for an entire lifetime," Dexter concluded.

Lettunich recounted the enduring trauma the Merlos children experience from their detention and separation from their family.

Watch the entire hearing here.

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