The United States is a nation of immigrants. Immigrants – whether from Norway, like my family, or elsewhere – should be able to pursue the American dream and provide for their families without living in fear. I am committed to working closely with advocacy groups in Northwest Washington to support our immigrant and refugee neighbors.
Here in Congress, I’m fighting for fair treatment, legal due process and accountability in our immigration system. President Trump’s brutal immigration enforcement agenda is separating families, deporting our neighbors and detaining and killing citizens. The Administration’s policies are cruel, hurt our local economy, and deny due process to those who have fled violence and severe hardship to live in the United States.
I believe in a better vision for U.S. immigration policy that modernizes the legal immigration system, invests in smart and effective border security and expands pathways to citizenship.
I am fighting for:
Modernizing the Immigration System:
- Expanding the number of family-based immigration visas available per year.
- Establishing a path to citizenship for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients.
- Repealing the Alien Enemies Act, which President Trump has invoked to deport individuals without due process.
- Investing in modern, efficient technology to speed up the immigration process.
- Improving the refugee and asylum processes.
Ensuring Humane Treatment in Immigration Detention:
- Ending child and family detention.
- Ending DHS’s use of private facilities for immigration detention.
- Establishing minimum detention standards at DHS.
- Providing individuals in immigration detention with 200 free minutes of communication with their families per month.
- Ensuring individuals in immigration detention have unlimited communication with legal counsel.
- Requiring the DHS Inspector General to conduct unannounced inspections at detention facilities.
- Codifying the right of Members of Congress to conduct announced oversight inspections of DHS detention facilities.
Improving Accountability in Immigration Enforcement:
- Prohibiting ICE officers from wearing masks during arrests.
- Requiring ICE officers to wear identification and body cameras.
- Establishing mandatory training for ICE agents in de-escalation and the Constitutional rights of every individual in the U.S.
- Prohibiting masked ICE agents from deploying tear gas and flash bangs in our communities.
