MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Angie Craig (MN-02)

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Angie Craig joined 108 of her colleagues in pushing the Trump Administration to shut down the notorious Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas run by private prison contractor, CoreCivic. In a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Rep. Craig and her colleagues blasted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CoreCivic for profiting off the detention of migrant families, including children. 

Dilley, where five-year old Liam Ramos was held after being picked up by ICE in Columbia Heights, MN, is the only ICE facility in the country dedicated to detaining families with children. Current and former detainees have been outspoken about the unacceptable and dehumanizing conditions at the facility, including food contaminated with worms and mold, a lack of adequate education for school-age children and delayed and denied medical care. Detainees blame both ICE and CoreCivic, a company in which President Trump owns stock. 

“Former and current detained families describe horrific conditions perpetuated by CoreCivic and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that are meant to strip them of their dignity and make them feel hopeless,” the Members wrote. “Americans have watched ICE’s brutality play out in their communities, but what happens behind the walls of the Dilley detention facility remains out of sight by design. DHS must stop imprisoning families, end this inhumanity, and close the Dilley detention facility.”

The Members specifically called out CoreCivic for using President Trump’s mass deportation agenda to profit millions of dollars from its contract with ICE.

“Patrick Swindle, President and CEO of CoreCivic, recently boasted that CoreCivic provides the most humane, most efficient, most compliant, and best value to the government,” the Members continued. “Here, ‘best value’ means maximizing profit through lack of trained personnel, inedible food, and insufficient medical care. CoreCivic cares about their bottom line, not about the people in their care.”

“No child and family should be imprisoned for seeking safety by legitimately following United States immigration laws,” the Members concluded.

Rep. Craig has taken the Trump Administration to task over its reckless and lawless immigration agenda and has fought to bring home Minnesotans wrongfully detained by ICE. 

Last month, she successfully secured the release of her constituent, Andrea Pedro-Francisco, who was held in ICE detention while suffering from an untreated ovarian cyst. In May, she traveled to El Paso, TX to visit Pedro-Francisco and conduct oversight of two ICE detention facilities—Camp East Montana and the El Paso Service Processing Center. 

Earlier this year, she conducted four oversight visits of the ICE processing center at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis. Following her third visit with Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05), she sent a letter to former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem expressing concern that no detainees were present during their visit despite reports that individuals were being held at Whipple and slamming Noem for previously denying them their constitutional right to conduct unannounced oversight visits. Rep. Craig also introduced articles of impeachment against former Secretary Noem in January before she was ultimately fired in March.

She has vocally opposed the opening of any new ICE facilities in Minnesota, including a proposed ICE detention center in Shakopee, which she successfully quashed alongside state and local leaders. And this Congress, she helped introduce the Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in ICE and CBP Custody Act to establish standards of care for individuals held in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and ICE custody.

You can read the full text of the letter here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, is introducing Orlin’s Law, legislation named for Orlin Hernandez Reyes. Three-year-old Orlin was murdered after his mother was deported and he was sent to live with a violent uncle, despite his mother’s request to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that her son be deported with her. As Jayapal introduces the legislation, she is also demanding answers from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE Acting Director David Venturella as children continue to be separated from their parents. 

“Orlin was violently assaulted and killed after ICE took him from his mother — an immigrant with no criminal record who was picked up on her way to work. There are no words to express the outrage and heartbreak that we should all feel for this three-year-old boy,” said Jayapal. “There will never be justice for his family, because we cannot bring Orlin back. We can, though, in his memory demand that this never happen again, and ensure that the children of immigrants and immigrant families are protected and kept together.”

“I begged them not to take me without my son,” Wendy Hernandez Reyes, mother of Orlin Hernandez Reyes. “I told the officers Orlin was just a baby, that I would go wherever they sent me, as long as he came too. They didn’t listen. Just weeks later, Orlin was gone. No child should die alone because no one stopped to ask what would happen to them after their mother was taken away. I’m supporting Orlin’s Law because I don’t want another parent to endure the pain I have suffered. Nothing will bring Orlin back, but I hope his story can help save another child’s life.”

“Wendy did the one thing a mother in that moment could do: she begged ICE officers to keep her with her son,” Shalyn Fluharty, Lee & Godshall-Bennett, LLP, attorney for Wendy Hernandez Reyes. “Instead, she was deported alone, and Orlin was left with someone who would later kill him. This was not an unavoidable tragedy. It was the foreseeable consequence of separating a young child from his mother. Orlin’s Law will help ensure that families are not needlessly separated, that parents have the opportunity to make decisions about their children’s care if detained, and that no parent is deported without their child if they want to remain together. We owe that to Orlin, and to every child whose safety depends on the decisions our government makes.”

At the time of Orlin’s death, Acting ICE director Todd M. Lyons alleged that Orlin’s mother, Wendy Hernandez Reyes, had abandoned him and “chose to leave her son here with a violent murderer.” Lyon’s assertion is contradicted by court records and Ms. Hernandez Reyes’s account. 

Orlin’s Law would promote family unity and preserve parental rights by establishing a rule that prevents ICE from detaining parents and primary caregivers unless it can show, through clear and convincing evidence, that an individual poses a specific risk to public safety that cannot be mitigated through placement in a supervised release program. For any parent not released, the bill establishes an Office of Detained Parent Coordination to ensure that detained parents’ rights are respected and requires ICE to give parents every opportunity to make custody decisions for their child and to facilitate their participation in proceedings involving their child. It would also prevent ICE from deporting parents without their child, should they wish to take their child with them.

“We commend Representative Jayapal for introducing Orlin’s Law to ensure that families are not needlessly separated due to immigration enforcement and that parents are able to make decisions about what happens to their children,” said Wendy Cervantes, director of immigration and immigrant families of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and director of the Children Thrive Action Network. “The bottom line is that Orlin should never have been separated from his loving mother, and no child should live in fear of losing a parent. Children have suffered some of the direst consequences of the Trump Administration’s reckless mass deportation campaign, including CLASP’s research that documents how our youngest kids are having their childhoods taken away, with the terror spreading across entire communities. We call on Congress to pass Orlin’s Law to mitigate the harm of immigration raids on children and to hold the Administration accountable by demanding that the Department of Homeland Security release comprehensive data on the number of children impacted by immigration enforcement and to follow its own policy to ensure detained parents can make decisions about their children’s care.”

“Family separation did not end when the Trump administration’s border policy was struck down, it simply changed form. Under today’s mass deportation agenda, ICE is tearing young children from their parents, leaving them alone with no one to advocate on their behalf,” said Sarah Mehta, Deputy Director, Policy and Government Affairs for Immigration, American Civil Liberties Union. “Orlin’s Law would ensure that children can remain safely with their parents and loved ones, and that parents, not immigration agents, decide what is best for their children. We are grateful to Congresswoman Jayapal for leading this effort to keep children safe and families together.”

Jayapal worked closely with DHS officials to ensure Ms. Hernandez Reyes could return to the U.S. for Orlin’s funeral. 

The full text of Orlin’s Law can be read here, and the full text of the letter to Mullin and Venturella can be read here.

Jayapal is joined in introducing Orlin’s Law by Representatives Nanette Barragán (CA-44), André Carson (IN-07), Greg Casar (TX-35), Judy Chu (CA-28), J. Luis Correa (CA-46), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Summer Lee (PA-12), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Analilia Mejia (NJ-11), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Adam Smith (WA-09), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul D. Tonko (NY-20), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25). 

The legislation is endorsed by the ACLU; Acacia Center for Justice; All Our Kin; Amnesty International USA; AP-OD (Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors); Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC; Center for Gender & Refugee Studies; Center for Law and Social Policy; Children’s Rights; Community Change Action; First Focus Campaign For Children; Justice in Motion; Kids in Need of Defense; MoveOn; National Center for Youth Law; National Immigrant Justice Center; National Immigration Law Center; Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice; We are CASA ; Women’s Refugee Commission; Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights; ZERO TO THREE; The Children’s Partnership; Coalition for a Healthier Frederick County; Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Northwest Immigrant Rights Project; OneAmerica; Voices for Utah Children; Wisconsin Head Start Association.

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Issues: Immigration

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH)

The Problem Solvers Caucus – a group evenly split between Republicans and Democrats – has endorsed Pappas’s BUILD Act

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

“So let me be clear to families throughout the country: the only people who should be ashamed of medical debt is the Republican Party because they have obstructed progress for affordable health care at every turn, and then they rescinded the rule that would have given you some relief.”

WASHINGTON – During a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) slammed Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Russell Vought for rescinding medical debt collection rules that provided essential consumer protections to families burdened by medical debt.

Congresswoman Pressley leads legislation to restore the CFPB’s advisory opinion that would protect consumers by preventing debt collectors from engaging in unfair or deceptive medical debt collection practices.

A transcript of Congresswoman Pressley’s remarks is available below and the video is available here.

In May 2026, Congresswoman Pressley introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would restore the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) advisory opinion that would protect consumers by preventing debt collectors from engaging in unfair or deceptive medical debt collection practices. The Congresswoman’s resolution was included in a suite of CRA resolutions led by Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) and House Financial Services Committee Democrats that would restore critical CFPB guidance designed to protect consumers that were rescinded by the Trump Administration under Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought.

In March 2026, Congresswoman Pressley emphasized the need for consumers’ autonomy over their financial information and history and protection from big banks and FinTech companies sharing such data without explicit consent.

In February 2025, Congresswoman Pressley joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) at a rally with colleagues, workers and advocates to protest Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s unlawful takeover of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

In October 2019, Congresswoman Pressley introduced H.R. 5021, the Ending Debt Collection Harassment Act, legislation that requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to regulate the debt collection industry. The legislation passed the House in May 2021.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Sanford D Bishop Jr (GA-02)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) issued the following statement after voting against an amendment offered by Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky to the Fiscal Year 2027 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act. The amendment prohibited funds in the bill from being used for Israel as well as humanitarian aid for Palestinian refugees and civilians in Gaza.

“Today, I opposed the Fiscal Year 2027 funding bill that funds our State Department and provides the resources to implement American foreign policy. This bill will lead to the continued erosion of American diplomacy, a foreign policy that ignores our highest ideals, and compromises our national security.

“I also could not support the Massie Amendment. While it drew attention to how our support, including military aid, can be misused and abused, its broad language effectively cut off our nose to spite our face. I remain committed to supporting the rights, security, freedom, and self-determination of both Israelis and Palestinians. I remain opposed to expanding settlements and occupation.

“But this amendment does not limit its effects to just Israelis and Palestinians. It jeopardizes the investment we need in regional missile defense and our ability to counter other regional state and non-state groups that threaten the United States.

“This amendment did not enjoy bipartisan support and no Republicans, other than Congressman Massie, supported the measure. If we are going to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve a just and sustainable resolution, we need to work together to find a bipartisan solution.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (1st District of Washington)

Today, Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01) and Mike Kelly (PA-16) released a joint statement after the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, their legislation to reform and modernize prior authorization for seniors on Medicare Advantage, unanimously passed the Ways & Means Committee.

The bill, which has a bipartisan supermajority of nearly 300 House co-sponsors, now advances to the full U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.

“We are incredibly pleased to see the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act advance out of our committee and move to the full U.S. House of Representatives,” the members said. “This legislation puts patient care and patient outcomes first, and it will greatly modernize and streamline the prior authorization process. Today’s vote moves this critical legislation one step closer to becoming law.”

Prior authorization is a tool used by health plans to reduce unnecessary care by requiring health care providers to get pre-approval for medical services. But it’s not without fault. The current system often results in unconfirmed faxes of a patient’s medical information or phone calls by clinicians, which takes precious time away from delivering quality and timely care.

Prior authorization continues to be the top administrative burden identified by health care providers, and three out of four Medicare Advantage enrollees are subject to unnecessary delays due to prior authorization. In recent years, the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) raised concerns after an audit revealed that Medicare Advantage plans ultimately approved 75%of requests that were originally denied. More recently, HHS released a report finding that MA plans incorrectly denied beneficiaries’ access to services even though they met Medicare coverage rules

Health plans, health care providers, and patients agree that the prior authorization process must be improved to better serve patients and reduce unnecessary administrative burdens for clinicians. In fact, leading health care organizations released a consensus statement to address some of the most pressing concerns associated with prior authorization.

More than 35 million American seniors, including nearly 800,000 Washingtonians, are enrolled in Medicare Advantage.

The bill would:

• Establish an electronic prior authorization process for MA plans including standardization for transactions and clinical attachments.

• Increase transparency around MA prior authorization requirements and its use.

• Clarify HHS’ authority to establish timeframes for e-prior authorization requests including expedited determinations, real-time decisions for routinely approved items and services, and other prior authorization requests.

• Expand beneficiary protections to improve enrollee experiences and outcomes.

• Require HHS and other agencies to report to Congress on program integrity efforts and other ways to further improve the e-PA process.

DelBene led similar legislation in the 118th Congress. The Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act unanimously passed the House in the 117th Congress and was cosponsored by a majority of members in the Senate and House of Representatives.

The bill text can be found here and a section-by-section can be found here.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (15th District of Texas)

The proposed largest cut to veterans’ benefits in a generation is a stark turn from when Congress delivered the largest expansion of veterans’ health care in a bipartisan manner through the Honoring Our PACT Act nearly 4 years ago.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08)

The Expedited Access to Biosimilars Act Will Give Americans Access to Cutting Edge Medications at Lower Prices

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA)

U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) introduced the End Birthright Citizenship for Territories Act. This new measure comes in response to the Trump v. Barbara decision, where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that children born in the United States to aliens who enter the country illegally have automatic access to constitutional protections as granted by the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. 

However, the Barbara decision does not address the birthright citizenship process in the U.S. territories, which differs from that of the 50 U.S. States and Washington, D.C. Currently, any child born in a U.S. territory (minus American Samoa) accesses U.S. citizenship automatically. But in the territories, citizenship rights must be granted by Congress and therefore are subject to Congressional scrutiny. Unlike in the States and Washington, D.C. where the Supreme Court has made clear that a Constitutional Amendment is needed to affect birthright citizenship laws, a simple change in statute can limit birthright citizenship in the territories.

Accordingly, Congressman Griffith’s End Birthright Citizenship for Territories Act is a statutory fix that clarifies U.S. birthright citizenship laws for those born in the territories. This bill expressly reserves birthright citizenship for those in the territories born to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents only. This bill helps fight against the “birth tourism” industry, which empowers foreign nationals to exploit U.S. citizenship laws. 

Following bill introduction, Congressman Griffith issued the following statement:

“The Barbara decision leaves open the door for Congressional action on citizenship in the American territories. Because of the current birthright laws in place in the territories, any child born in a U.S. territory (minus American Samoa), regardless of a parent’s nationality, accesses U.S. citizenship automatically. I am leading a bill to crack down on birthright citizenship in the territories and combat foreign nationals who are exploiting loopholes in our citizenship laws to take advantage of U.S. generosity. This way, you have to be born to a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident to have American citizenship in the territories! While this change is limited to the territories, it is the only step we can currently take to protect U.S. citizenship.”

BACKGROUND

Under Congressman Griffith’s bill, natives of the territories who are U.S. citizens will still be able to extend U.S. citizenship to their children. This bill only affects those who are not U.S. citizens that give birth to children in the territories starting in January 2027.

Currently, four of the five inhabited U.S. territories have been granted U.S. citizenship by laws passed in Congress. These are Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

These four territories exercise these powers because Congress extended such rights in statute through laws like the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The Northern Mariana Islands have acquired such rights through a different statutory mechanism.

The U.S. territory of American Samoa is the lone exception. Those born in this territory are considered American nationals but have not been granted citizenship status by Congress.

Accordingly, birthright citizenship does not apply currently in American Samoa.

The application under the Barbara case of birthright citizenship in the U.S. territories differs from what is established in the 50 U.S. States and Washington, D.C. according to Supreme Court cases.

The birthright discrepancy between the territories and the States dates to legal cases beginning in the early 20^th century known as the Insular Cases.

Generally, these cases governed which constitutional protections apply in U.S. territories.

Additionally, since 2010, two federal courts of appeals cases have rejected the notion that those born in the U.S. territories access the same automatic rights by virtue of the Constitution as those in the U.S. states and Washington, D.C.

A copy of the text for Congressman Griffith’s bill can be found here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press conference, where he emphasized that while House Republicans are ignoring the needs of everyday Americans, House Democrats remain committed to driving down the high cost of living and making life better for the American people.

LEADER JEFFRIES: A few moments ago, yet again, another reckless Republican bill went down to defeat on the Floor of the House of Representatives. House Democrats are in the minority but continue to control the Floor as if we were in the majority, making progress on behalf of the American people, including by extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits earlier this year to protect the healthcare of more than 20 million Americans, by passing successfully a War Powers Resolution as part of our continuing effort to stop Donald Trump’s reckless and costly war of choice in the Middle East. No more stupid wars that make life more expensive for the American people. And then, of course, this week, perhaps for the first time in the history of the United States of America, the majority party was forced to pull a bill relating to veterans because House Democrats, led by Mark Takano, have made clear all week that this bill doesn’t benefit hard-working veterans in the United States of America. It would actually hurt them.

In advance of Donald Trump’s speech, let me also be clear about one thing: Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. Something’s really wrong with this guy. I think he actually needs to be checked out. Why does he continue to focus on a conspiracy theory related to a 2020 presidential election that every rational person in the United States of America knows he lost? And yet, instead of focusing on actually driving down the high cost of living in an economy where hardworking American taxpayers are suffocating from the affordability crisis, Donald Trump continues to peddle election conspiracy theories. 

House Democrats are committed to making sure that we have a free and fair election in November. And when that occurs, we’re confident that we’re going to take back control of the United States House of Representatives. What Republicans are doing, since they were once again neutered on the Floor of the House of Representatives, is to advance an America Last budget resolution that will actually provide $60 billion in additional taxpayer money for Donald Trump’s reckless and costly war of choice in the Middle East that has left Iran in a stronger position than they were in before this reckless war started and the American people in a weaker position economically as a result of high gas prices. And yet, Republicans continue to double and triple down on Operation Epic Failure. The war in Iran has been a disaster for the American people, and House Democrats will strongly oppose their America Last budget resolution and fight to actually restore the devastating cuts to Medicaid and to nutritional assistance that Republicans jammed down the throats of the American people with their One Big Ugly Bill last year.

Full press conference can be watched here.

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