Immigration and Border Issues

During the conversation, Rep. Espaillat condemned recent ICE raids, including a disturbing incident in Harlem where federal agents questioned children as young as 11 years old about their immigration status

Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), who is also chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, have introduced legislation to bar the use of masks during such arrests. 

"The immigrant communities across America are terrified," said Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.  "They are really scared out there. Some of the kids are skipping school. Families are being separated.

Honduras' government isn't ready for the TPS program to end, said Leonardo Valenzuela Neda, the Honduran embassy's deputy chief of mission in the U.S., who spoke at an event hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

More than 90 Democratic lawmakers filed a brief with a federal court this week telling it to block an agreement between the IRS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that would give the agency access to private taxpayer data.

“Desde su designación inicial en 1999, el TPS para Nicaragua se prorrogó 13 veces consecutivas (por períodos de 12 o 18 meses cada vez) bajo la misma base estatutaria de desastre ambiental”, detalla el documento.

“If you uphold the peace of a democratic society, you should not be anonymous,” said Espaillat, who serves as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair. “DHS and ICE agents wearing masks and hiding identification echoes the tactics of secret police authoritarian regimes—and deviates from the practices of local law enforcement, which contributes to confusion in communities.”

“We will not succumb to any intimidation tactics,” CHC Chair Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York said. “We will continue to comply with our duty to have oversight of these detention centers, and we will visit them within the parameters of the law.”