NY-7 is one of the most immigrant-dense districts in the country. Brooklyn and Queens are built on the labor, the businesses, the cultural institutions, and the families of immigrants  from every part of the world. Under the current administration, the federal government has  turned the apparatus that was supposed to serve those families into an engine of mass  deportation. ICE raids on spaces that used to be sanctuary, courthouses, schools, and houses  of worship. Mass detention at unprecedented scale, with new detention facilities being built  across the country. Humanitarian relief gutted or frozen including asylum, refugee programs,  and family reunification. 

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As of early 2026, more than 68,000 people were being held in ICE detention, most of whom have  no criminal convictions. More than 50 people have died in ICE custody since the start of this  Trump administration, making this the deadliest period for the agency in over two decades.  I’ve spent 20 years in public defense supporting immigrant New Yorkers facing the  consequences of ICE targeting their communities. Neighbors pulled into deportation  proceedings for the smallest offenses or none whatsoever. The harm this system inflicts is not  abstract to me. 

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This paper lays out what Congress must resist now, what we must reclaim from what has been  dismantled, and what we must reimagine to build an immigration system that works for the  families who depend on it. 

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Resist 

The Trump administration has built the largest deportation and surveillance machine in  American history and turned it on the immigrant communities that built this country. Before  we can create a just, humane immigration system we must protect our neighbors who have  become the targets of a political struggle. In Congress, I will: 

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Defund ICE. ICE was created after 9/11, and from the beginning communities that look like  mine have been among its primary targets. ICE and CBP have been given a blank check by  Congress, and the current administration is using that money to fund mass raids and build  new detention capacity targeting immigrant families. I will push to stop ICE and CBP  appropriations and freeze new detention bed funding immediately. 

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Stop ICE access to surveillance data. ICE has spent billions building a surveillance system  that tracks people through utility bills, Medicaid records, driver’s license photos, and  commercial data brokers. I will work to pass federal legislation banning ICE and CBP from  accessing commercial data they couldn’t collect legally, and prohibiting the algorithmic  targeting tools used to decide which families to raid and which neighborhoods to surveil. 

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Defend sanctuary protections. The Trump administration is using funding cuts, prosecution  threats, and preemption to force New York and other states to cooperate with immigration  enforcement. I will fight legislation that overrides state protections, defend New York’s Green  Light Law from federal attack, and support the New York for All Act being pushed in Albany by  the coalition that includes The Bronx Defenders, where I built my career. From Washington, I  will push to end the 287(g) program that deputizes local police as ICE agents, restore the  sensitive locations policy that the Trump administration rescinded in January 2025, and  protect immigrant communities from federal coercion of state and local law enforcement. 

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End ICE intimidation of immigrant communities. ICE raids on courthouses, schools,  hospitals, and houses of worship are not enforcement. They are intimidation campaigns designed to make immigrant communities afraid to access public services, send their kids to  school, or report crimes. I have seen how communities stop engaging in the legal process due  to fear of ICE. I will work to pass federal legislation establishing protected zones around these  institutions and get ICE out of our residential communities. 

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End the detention system. Most ICE detention is operated by private contractors like GEO  Group and CoreCivic, paid by the bed, which creates a financial incentive to detain more people  for longer. The result has been overcrowding, medical neglect, and the deaths in detention. I  will fight to end federal contracts with private immigration detention operators and support a  federal ban on immigration detention. 

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Reclaim 

A generation of legal immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrant families have been  failed by a federal system that doesn’t work. I have seen people who followed every rule and  waited every year still lose status, still face deportation, still get told no by an agency that was  supposed to serve them. In Congress, I will:  

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Restore the asylum system. The Trump administration has gutted the asylum process, with  asylum officers laid off, hearings moved to remote dockets designed for high denial rates, and  the credible fear standard narrowed beyond recognition. I will fight to bring the asylum process  back into compliance with US and international law, restore the credible fear standard, and  fund asylum officer hiring to clear the backlog and process claims fairly. 

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Restore and expand TPS, DACA, and humanitarian parole. The Trump administration has  threatened or terminated TPS for dozens of countries despite ongoing conditions in those  home countries, with many terminations currently blocked by federal courts pending Supreme  Court review. I have represented people whose TPS was their only legal status, and when it was  stripped, the conditions in their home country didn’t change, all that changed was what we  could do in court. I will push to restore TPS for the populations stripped of it and codify DACA  into law with a permanent pathway to citizenship. 

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Rebuild USCIS. USCIS is supposed to process visa applications, naturalize new citizens, and  adjudicate asylum claims, but under the current administration it has been turned into  another enforcement arm with politically appointed leadership driving denial rates. I will work  to restore USCIS as a service agency, remove the political appointees who have hollowed it out,  and process the backlog of naturalization, family reunification, and employment-based visas  that has grown to years-long delays. 

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Restore due process. Immigration courts are not real courts. The judges are Department of  Justice employees who report to the Attorney General, detained immigrants have no right to  counsel, and children appear in court alone. I will introduce and support federal legislation  establishing a right to counsel for people in immigration proceedings. A threat of deportation  is akin to one’s liberty and deserves the same protections. 

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Federally fund immigrant legal services. New York built the New York Immigrant Family Unity  Project, the first publicly funded universal representation program for detained immigrants,  and the model has been adopted by other cities. I will fight for federal investment in immigrant  legal services to scale this model nationally, ensuring that no immigrant facing deportation  faces the government alone.

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Reimagine 

The current immigration system was broken well before Trump. The legal immigration system  has not been substantively updated in a generation and doesn’t reflect our current needs. ICE  has been weaponized, new detention centers are being built, and mass surveillance has  become a daily reality, all while the real work of building a functioning immigration system  gets ignored. The path forward requires both dismantling what is wrong and building what  should be in its place. In Congress, I will: 

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Dismantle ICE. ICE in its current form should not exist. The agency was created in 2003 post  9/11 under the newly created Department of Homeland Security, and the result has been a  militarized agency operating outside the framework of law enforcement. I will fight to  dismantle ICE and the deportation machine it has become. 

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End the criminalization of migration. Repeal 8 USC § 1325 and § 1326, the statutes that make  unauthorized entry and reentry federal crimes. Migration without authorization should not be  a criminal violation, and removing federal criminal liability would empty federal prisons of  immigrants whose only alleged offense is crossing a border. 

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Create permanent pathways to citizenship. There are more than 11 million undocumented  immigrants in the United States, many of whom have been here for decades, raised families,  contributed to communities and economies, and paid taxes. I will push for federal legislation  creating a permanent pathway to citizenship for undocumented residents, essential workers,  agricultural workers, and Dreamers. 

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Modernize the immigration system. The family-based and employment-based visa  categories have not been substantively updated since 1990, with wait times for family  reunification running 20 years and employment-based backlogs for Indian and Chinese  applicants running decades. I will work to pass federal legislation eliminating per-country  caps, expanding family reunification, and creating new categories for essential workers,  healthcare workers, and skilled workers in sectors with documented shortages. 

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Expand the refugee program. The United States built the postwar refugee system and was for  decades the world’s largest refugee resettlement country, but the Trump administration has  gutted the program with refugee admissions at historic lows. I will fight to restore refugee  admissions, expand resettlement infrastructure, and create new humanitarian parole  pathways for populations facing danger. 

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Protections for immigrant workers. The Supreme Court’s Hoffman Plastic Compounds  decision stripped undocumented workers of full remedies under federal labor law, and federal  labor enforcement has been chronically under-resourced in the industries that employ the  most immigrants. I will push for federal legislation restoring full workplace protections for all  workers regardless of immigration status, expanding federal labor enforcement, and ensuring  that no worker is too afraid to report abuse. 

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Investment in immigrants. Federal funding for English language instruction, legal services,  civic integration, and naturalization assistance has been chronically underfunded for decades,  leaving cities like New York to fund integration alone. I will work to direct federal investment  in immigrant integration through HHS, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and state administered programs that reach immigrant families.

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The story of immigration in this country has always been the story of who we call a neighbor.  NY-7 has been fortunate enough for generations to have families who came from Italy and  Russia, from the Caribbean and South Asia, from East Asia and West Africa and Central  America, and built lives and businesses and communities here. The current federal moment  is threatening that very fundamental fabric of our home. 

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I’m running because the federal government has the power to stop the damage being done to  immigrant families today and rebuild a system that works for the families who depend on it.  Stop the raids. Restore the protections. Build the pathways. End the cruelty. 

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This is personal to me as the son, brother, nephew and uncle of immigrants, and a public  defender who has represented immigrant New Yorkers. I know what this system does. In  Congress, I’ll fight to change it.