Warren, Duckworth, Durbin, Houlahan, Goodlander, Ramirez Lead Investigation into Trump Administration’s Betrayal of Immigrant Service Members, Veterans, and Military Families

Warren, Duckworth, Durbin, Houlahan, Goodlander, Ramirez Lead Investigation into Trump Administration's Betrayal of Immigrant Service Members, Veterans, and Military Families

"The Trump administration's [actions] threaten U.S. national security interests and erode the U.S. military's credibility when it makes promises to its service members who have put their lives on the line for our country."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), along with Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), and Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.), led 55 members of Congress in opening a new investigation into the Trump administration's arrest, detention, and deportation of non-citizen service members, veterans, and military families. The lawmakers wrote to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) demanding an explanation for these practices, which go against decades of precedent and long-standing DHS policy indicating that military service offers protection from immigration enforcement for military service members, veterans, and their immediate family members.

"The Trump administration's [actions] threaten U.S. national security interests and erode the U.S. military's credibility when it makes promises to its service members who have put their lives on the line for our country," wrote the lawmakers.

Over the past century, hundreds of thousands of immigrant service members have fought for the nation and contributed to victories in military conflicts. Non-citizen service members fill in recruitment gaps and provide foreign language skills and medical expertise to the military that are difficult for recruiters to find and expensive to teach.

In April, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rescinded its former policy of considering military service a "significant mitigating factor" when deciding whether to pursue immigration enforcement and issued a new policy less protective of service members and their families.

Following the policy change, the wife of a Marine Corps veteran and mother of two young children was detained by ICE during a green card application appointment - despite having lived in the United States for over a decade. Then, in June, a father of three Marines was repeatedly punched in the head by masked ICE agents, and a U.S. citizen who served in the Army was rounded up in an indiscriminate raid and held without explanation. The Trump administration's actions against veterans and non-citizen military families have even prompted at least one veteran to leave the United States.

Multiple constituents affected by the administration's reckless changes to immigration protections for military families have shared their stories with representatives in Congress. For example, Sae Joon Park, a disabled Purple Heart veteran residing in Hawaii, was forced to self-deport by the Trump administration despite having lived in the U.S. for nearly five decades. Additionally, Maria Pelaez, a mother of an active-duty U.S. Marine, was detained by ICE, and ICE has refused to release her despite a judge's decision to grant her bond.

The Trump administration may be targeting military families using information they voluntarily provided to the federal government in connection with their service. When applying for immigration benefits, like "parole in place," military families provide extensive personal data, including their physical addresses, physically-identifying information like eye color and height, country of birth, and more. Now, USCIS may be using that information to refer service members or their families to ICE for removal proceedings, even if they were previously deprioritized for enforcement actions.

Even as the administration took steps to backtrack on its previous immigration enforcement protections, military recruiters continued using immigration benefits as a talking point to recruit non-citizens, "promoting enlistment as a way to gain 'protection from deportation' for family members." Only recently did the Marines stop the practice and it is unclear whether other military services continue to use this recruitment tactic.

"We demand an explanation for why DHS is betraying its promises to service members who play a key role in protecting U.S. national security," wrote the members.

The coalition asked the two agencies to provide, by September 16, 2025: information about the number of non-citizens serving in the military; a list of service members, veterans, and family members who have been arrested, detained, or deported since January 2025; the impact of these new immigration policies on recruitment, readiness, and morale; what information about non-citizen service members and military family members the Pentagon provides DHS and ICE; and more.

Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Patty Murrary (D-Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) joined in signing the letter.

House: Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.), Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Cleo Fields (D-La.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Henry Johnson (D-Ga.), John Larson (D-Conn.), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Kelly Morrison (D-Minn.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Hilary Scholten (D-Mich.), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Derek Tran (D-Calif.), and Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) joined in signing the letter.

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