[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 99 (Thursday, June 11, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2753-S2755]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          June 12 Anniversary

  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, 1 year ago tomorrow, you may recall that 
I was in the Federal building in West Los Angeles, on business, 
awaiting a scheduled briefing, when I was physically forced out of a 
press conference. I was forced to the ground and handcuffed--not 
because I had broken any laws, mind you, but for the simple fact that I 
tried to ask a question of then-Homeland Security Secretary Noem.
  I was in that building--I was in that office--in my capacity as a 
U.S. Senator for a scheduled briefing with the four-star general in 
charge of U.S. Northern Command because I was seeking answers and had 
been seeking answers not just for days but for weeks and months on what 
had become an unprecedented, unlawful, cruel immigration enforcement 
campaign that Donald Trump had unleashed on Los Angeles.
  You will remember the visuals of masked ICE agents not identifying 
themselves and of CBP officers who were armed as if they were heading 
into war, indiscriminately stopping people, sweeping up immigrants--
undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants, even some U.S. citizens. But 
they didn't care because they were going after anyone who looked like 
an immigrant. They were knocking down doors to homes without having 
signed judicial warrants. They were breaking the windows of cars and 
dragging people out of their vehicles. They were raiding worksites, the 
parking lots of home improvement stores, even public parks where kids 
and families were playing. This was all happening in a matter of days 
in Los Angeles.
  It seemed like the administration was just doing one thing after 
another to escalate tensions. The President not only federalized and 
deployed National Guard troops into Los Angeles to assist with this 
``mission,'' but at one point, Active-Duty marines were sent into Los 
Angeles, but it was not for public safety reasons, as this was done 
against the wishes of the Governor, against the wishes of the mayor, 
and against the wishes of the police chief and the sheriff.
  So, yes, I wanted answers--answers that weren't coming from the 
Department of Homeland Security here in the Senate during formal 
committee hearings and answers that weren't coming in response to 
formal inquiries that we had made as Senators or in response to letters 
that had been submitted by me and by several of my colleagues.
  Instead, as I was in the Federal building awaiting a briefing and was 
told my briefing was delayed because the general was in a press 
conference with the Secretary of Homeland Security, I thought: Well, 
let me try to go in and listen. Maybe I will hear some of the 
information that I had been trying so hard to get.
  So I was escorted by a National Guard member and an FBI agent to the 
press conference, where I stood to the side quietly and just listened. 
I heard not for the first time and not even for the first time that day 
that Secretary Noem shared with the public that the mission of this 
operation was to ``liberate'' Los Angeles from its duly-elected 
leaders. At that moment, I was compelled to speak up because that is 
not enforcing the law; that is an abuse of the U.S. military and of 
Federal law enforcement--a reflection of the desires of a wannabe 
dictator.
  As you have seen from the video, before I could even get a question 
out, they did their best to try to silence me. They were sending a 
message. This wasn't just about me. They were trying to make clear to 
anybody in Los Angeles and anybody throughout California and anybody 
throughout the country what can happen if you dare disagree with this 
administration, because they don't like being questioned. That is for 
sure. They think they are above the law. They think the rule of law 
does not apply to them.
  The good news is that is not what the American people believe. As one 
point of evidence, 2 days after that Homeland Security press conference 
experience, there was the first of the No Kings days that we have seen 
in the United States this last year--millions of people taking to the 
streets in their communities and cities across the country to declare 
``No Kings.'' Instead of being scared into silence, they did not feel 
intimidated; they stepped up, and they spoke out.
  The American people have continued to speak out for our rights ever 
since. Across the country, Americans have been looking out for their 
friends, for their neighbors, for their coworkers, and for their 
communities. They have been documenting a lot of the abuses that they 
have seen in an effort to hold not just Federal agents but the Federal 
Government accountable. They have been speaking up for our rights 
through organizing and protesting--and not just in locations where 
raids and apprehensions and arrests have been taking place. We now see 
mobilizations around detention facilities, where we have heard reports 
of brutal, unsanitary, and inhumane conditions.
  Just a couple of weeks ago, my colleague from New Jersey Senator Kim 
was out there with protesters. Again, he was the victim of cruelty, 
unnecessary physical abuse against a Member of the Senate. No American 
should have to experienced that.
  What we have also seen at this time, again, is not just the 
mobilization of the American people, the voice of the American people, 
but we have seen the impact on the President's approval ratings and on 
his polling.
  In this administration, I grant you, by the numbers, the President 
enjoyed strong approval ratings when it came to immigration, generally 
speaking. Flash-forward to today, and poll after poll shows that he is 
at historically low approval ratings both overall but especially when 
it comes to the cruelty of his immigration agenda.
  It turns out that when Americans witness the President's policies not 
as he campaigned on--remember, he talked about going after the worst of 
the worst, but what we have seen in practice is anything but. So when 
we see the reality of what Donald Trump is doing, Americans don't 
approve. They don't approve of troops being deployed into American 
cities. They don't approve of Federal agents making indiscriminate 
stops, arrests, detentions, or even deportations. They

[[Page S2754]]

don't approve of families being torn apart, of people being assaulted 
or pepper-sprayed and arrested for exercising their First Amendment 
rights. They don't approve of indiscriminate profiling of people based 
on their skin color.
  It is shameful that there is now a term--the ``Kavanaugh stops.'' A 
Supreme Court Justice sanctioned stops based on one's appearance, 
accent, occupation.
  You don't enforce the law by violating the law. That is racial 
profiling, plain and simple.
  And, of course, the American people have been horrified when they see 
U.S. citizens--including Alex Pretti and Renee Good--shot and killed in 
broad daylight by Federal agents for exercising their First Amendment 
rights.
  This country has recoiled from this cruelty because this is not who 
we are as a country. We are better than this.
  And, sadly, we know this administration pays close attention to their 
polling numbers, so they know public opinion has turned. Instead of 
rectifying, instead of being smarter on this, more responsible on this, 
they are simply just changing tactics. And what was once happening in 
plain sight is now intentionally being played out in areas that are a 
lot less visible--certainly not visible to the public.
  We have learned recently, for instance, that immigration courts are 
scheduling massive mega master hearings is what they are calling them. 
Instead of a judge processing maybe 15 cases at a time--that is a 
significant workload--now they are hearing 100 or more. Oh, and by the 
way, there is also a lot fewer judges hearing these cases because the 
administration has fired more than 100 judges.
  You combine fewer judges with less access to counsel by people who 
have a right to counsel, it comes down to the denial of true due 
process. That is their recipe for ramming through and ramping up 
deportations.
  They are also trying to shut down legal immigration altogether. Let 
me repeat that. They are trying to shut down legal immigration by 
making it harder to seek asylum or even apply for a green card when you 
are eligible. They are increasingly targeting DACA recipients. With 
over 260 that have been swept up this last year and at least 86 of them 
deported from the only home they have ever known.
  Even worse--again, adding to the cruelty--this administration is also 
running out the clock on renewing their DACA protections to the point 
where the protections expire and they become not just unemployable but 
far more susceptible to deportation.
  But nothing exemplifies this administration's ongoing cruelty more 
than the conditions at detention centers like the Adelanto ICE 
Processing Center in my home State of California; the Dilley Detention 
Center in Texas filled with children; and, of course, Delaney Hall in 
New Jersey that has been in the news of late. We are constantly hearing 
reports about how overcrowded and unsanitary these facilities are. We 
are hearing about detainees given food that is infested with mold or 
maggots, inadequate access to clean drinking water, and how many are 
being denied medical care, including critical medical care.
  The damage this administration is doing is incalculable. We do know 
that conditions in these facilities have contributed to the deaths of 
51 detainees since the start of the second Trump administration--19 of 
them just in this year alone.
  Again, most of these people do not have a criminal record. I have got 
to point that out because, again, for all the talk by President Trump, 
by the White House, by DHS, by a lot of our Republican colleagues about 
going after the ``worst of the worst.'' If this administration was only 
targeting the dangerous, violent criminals that they so often talk 
about, there would be no debate. There would be no discussion because 
there would be no disagreements.
  But the fact of the matter is the vast majority of the people that 
have been detained, that have been arrested, that have been deported, 
do not have violent criminal convictions.
  And to the cruelty of the kicking down the door of your home, the 
terror of the broken car window and being dragged out, the pain of 
somebody being detained for days or weeks or months with challenging 
contact with family or lawyers, the conditions in these detention 
facilities--the vast majority of people that have been subject to this 
are not dangerous, violent criminals. Many may be undocumented, but 
they are otherwise hard-working, tax-paying, family-raising 
contributors to communities and our economy.
  Last year was the deadliest year for people in ICE detention, and 
this year we are on track to surpass even that record.
  And now on top of that, we learned just yesterday that this 
administration has detained 500 babies and toddlers who are now in ICE 
custody. That is right, 500 babies and toddlers locked up in these ICE 
facilities. Are they the ``worst of the worst''? No. Are they the 
transnational gang leaders? Really? Babies and toddlers.
  Look, all immigrants are human beings and deserve to be treated like 
it. They deserve better than what this administration is doing, which 
is why it is important for Americans to keep speaking out, exposing 
these abuses. Because exposing these abuses is part of our 
responsibility; stopping them is the other responsibility.
  The American people deserve a better vision and a better plan for 
immigration than what this administration is delivering. The American 
people deserve and expect a plan that is rooted not in fear, but one 
that is rooted both in security and dignity, a plan that doesn't strive 
to just be tough on immigration for the sake of being tough, but one 
that is smarter on immigration policy and how we administer it.
  We can secure our borders, but let's do it in a way that is secure 
and orderly and humane, while ensuring pathways to seek safety for 
those who need it. That has been the tradition of our country.
  We can and must modernize our legal immigration system to keep up 
with global competition while protecting American workers. Those two 
objectives are not mutually exclusive; they do go hand in hand.
  We must ensure the law affords due process and keeps families 
together.
  We must provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, for farm 
workers, and other long-term residents of the United States.
  You know, I am not naive enough to suggest that all this is easily 
done, but we have to keep trying because the status quo confronting us 
today is clearly not working. Before we can even begin the work of 
modernizing our immigration system, we have to confront the abuses that 
are happening right before us. Again, it is not one or the other; we 
have to strive to do both.
  The need for stronger oversight of ICE and CBP--which had been 
allowed to get away with far too much for too long--is undeniable. The 
need to ensure independent scrutiny of detention centers and these 
awful conditions is undeniable. But, again, DHS is putting up 
roadblocks even for Members of Congress to conduct our oversight 
responsibility in these Federal facilities. We need stronger 
protections for the civil liberties and the constitutional rights that 
define us as Americans, beginning with the First Amendment.
  And should the American people vote Democrats into the majority next 
election, Democrats will wield every tool in our power to achieve these 
reforms.
  But the most important thing that we can do as Americans in the 
meantime is to never stop speaking up in the face of cruelty and 
injustice.
  Again, 1 year ago tomorrow, I was handcuffed for trying to ask a 
question. Not a day goes by that I don't see somebody here in 
Washington, in California, or many places in between, that they don't 
come up to me--complete strangers--acknowledging what happened and how 
it hurt them.
  I thank them for sharing. I thank them for caring. And I remind them: 
Don't just remember that I was put to the ground and handcuffed, 
remember what happened immediately after. I got back up, and I spoke 
out. And I have continued to speak out, not because I am particularly 
brave, not because I am particularly determined, but because the people 
expect and deserve answers and they deserve leaders who, like them, 
refuse to be intimidated into silence.
  A lot of the television cameras have moved on from what is happening 
in communities. The headlines have faded

[[Page S2755]]

because there is no shortage of challenges that this country is 
confronting from the threats of wars abroad, an unauthorized war the 
President has dragged us into, economic pain; right? We talked a lot 
about the cost of groceries, the cost of housing, the cost of 
healthcare, the cost of utilities that working families are struggling 
with.
  But the need for oversight on the Department of Homeland Security--
and ICE and CBP especially--is absolutely there. The need for 
accountability remains. The need to defend due process and civil 
liberties and basic human dignity has not faded away.
  One year ago, this administration tried to send a message, again, not 
just to me, to the country. And for the past year, I am so proud that 
the American people have been sending a message right back to the 
President.
  And as long as I have the privilege of serving in this Chamber, I 
will continue to do the same. I will continue to stand by the American 
people and to keep asking questions and demanding answers. We have a 
lot of work to do. Let's keep going.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.