Fighting Dhs Immigration Raids

Floor Speech

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Ms. DEXTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Ramirez), for her incredible leadership and holding us together today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to make one thing clear: Trump's cruel immigration agenda is not about public safety. It is about intimidation and cruelty. The people of Oregon are living with the consequences of that every single day.

A man recovering from surgery was violently pulled from his car and left in excruciating pain. A pregnant mother was taken, separated from her 2-year-old child, and denied comprehensive prenatal care while in custody. Another mother in my district, along with her four U.S.- citizen children, were detained for weeks without access to counsel. They are parents doing school drop-offs, workers heading to their jobs, and longtime neighbors who strengthen our communities.

Trump promises safety, but he delivers chaos. Cruelty is not law enforcement. It is intimidation, and the harm goes beyond our immigrant families.

In Portland, an elementary school had to relocate students because chemical agents deployed by Federal immigration officials drifted onto their campus. Low-income seniors were told to shut off their air conditioning in the middle of summer because those chemicals were entering their buildings' ventilation systems. When Portlanders have peacefully stood against these abuses, they have been met with pepper balls, tear gas, and masked agents using violent force.

Once again, nothing about this agenda is in the pursuit of public safety. It is Federal power turned against the people who it is meant to serve.

Congress must reject cruelty as a tool of policy and restore humanity, transparency, and accountability.

That is why I introduced the Restoring Access to Detainees Act with Senator Murphy. Every family should know where their loved one is being held. Every detainee must have easy, free access to call legal counsel.

I also authored the CLEAR ID Act with Representative Crockett to ensure that our community members are not approached or detained by unidentified Federal agents. Without identification, there is no accountability. That is how democracies erode, and we will not allow it.

Trump wants America to believe that his cruelty makes us safer. It does not. When communities live in fear, they cannot trust law enforcement. When families are torn apart, our Nation grows weaker. Real safety comes from stability, trust, and community, not fear and force.

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