PHOTOS: Padilla Conducts Oversight Visit at Texas Border, Meets with DACA Recipients and Immigrant Rights Groups

MCALLEN, TX - On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary's Subcommittee on Immigration, visited McAllen, Texas to conduct an oversight visit at the Hidalgo Port of Entry and meet with immigrants' rights groups and individuals impacted by the Trump Administration's unprecedented and lawless mass deportation agenda.

At the Hidalgo Port of Entry, Padilla heard firsthand from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials who are implementing President Trump's anti-immigrant Executive Orders, including illegally turning away migrants fleeing persecution from seeking asylum in the United States.

Padilla also spoke with representatives from La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), a grassroots organization providing services to residents in the Rio Grande Valley, the ACLU of Texas, the Texas Civil Rights Project, Del Camino Jesuit Ministries, the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, and the American Bar Association's South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project. He also listened to stories from impacted community members, including Yennifer England, a DACA recipient, and registered nurse's aide, who was brought to the U.S. more than two decades ago when she was just five years old. She was detained by ICE for three months following a minor traffic stop and threatened with deportation despite her active DACA status.

"No parent should have to fear what may happen when they drop their child off at school, when they go to work, or whether they will make it home at the end of the day. We need humane, safe border enforcement. The Trump Administration has gone too far - and our communities deserve better than the treatment we've seen in Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, Minnesota, and here in Texas," said Senator Padilla. "The level of the cruelty we've seen from the Trump Administration is sickening - there must be a better way. I will continue to fight for a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and other law-abiding, long-term residents of the United States."

Padilla is leading the fight for smart immigration reform that aligns with our values and needs as a country, including by strengthening oversight, transparency, and accountability for CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement through commonsense reform measures and providing a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients, Dreamers, and long-term residents who contribute every day to our economy and our communities. His VISIBLE Act would require immigration enforcement officers to display clearly visible identification during public-facing enforcement actions. And his bill to update the existing Registry statute would expand a pathway to lawful permanent residency for millions of long-term U.S. residents.

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