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Rep. Mike Levin to Bring Daughter of Deported Immigrant Couple to State of the Union

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Levin (CA-49)

February 23, 2026

Stephanie Quintino’s Story Exemplifies the Horrors of Trump’s Mass Deportation Scheme & Effects of Nation’s Broken Immigration System

Stephanie Quintino and her parents, Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez

Washington, D.C.—Today, Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) announced that he will bring Stephanie Quintino, the daughter of a deported immigrant couple, as his guest to the 2026 State of the Union address. Stephanie’s parents, Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez, were deported in February 2025 to Colombia after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a routine check-in. The couple lived in Southern California, including Laguna Niguel, for 35 years, had no criminal record, and always paid their taxes. Stephanie is the face of our nation’s broken immigration system and the cruelty of Trump’s mass deportation scheme.

“I’ve watched President Trump use every podium, every platform, and every moment of national attention to mislead the American people,” said Rep. Levin. “I’m planning to attend the State of the Union because I’m not going to let Trump ignore the cruel reality of his mass deportation machine. Millions of families are being separated and lives are being ruined. The Gonzalezes’ case reflects the enormous human cost of this Administration’s deportation policies. My guest, Stephanie Quintino, will put a face to that cost and to the stories of families being torn apart.”

“What happened to my parents is happening to millions of undocumented immigrants across the country. They are working hard, paying their taxes, have no criminal records, and are contributing positively to their communities. When they show up to their routine ICE check-in, they are being detained for weeks to months on end in multiple facilities to then be deported. It’s unjust and inhumane,” said Stephanie Quintino. “I’m going to the State of the Union to put a face to the horrors of President Trump’s mass deportation operations. ICE is ripping families, like mine, apart, and causing incredible trauma. I will show the country why we need to pass immigration reform, like the Dignity Act, to protect families and provide a pathway to legal status.”

Nearly 40% of people arrested by ICE in Trump’s first year of his second term had no criminal record. In July 2025, Rep. Levin helped reintroduce the bipartisan Dignity Act, a comprehensive immigration reform bill that addresses legal status and protections for undocumented immigrants, border security, asylum reform, and visa reform.

“The Gonzalezes’s story lays out one of the biggest problems of our broken immigration system: there is no pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants who have no criminal records, pay their taxes, are integrated into their communities, and are following the law,” continued Rep. Levin. “The Dignity Act would reform our broken immigration system by providing a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants and strengthen border security. It would protect people like Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez who are part of the fabric of America and prevent families from being torn apart. It’s long past time for Congress to act on immigration reform and pass the Dignity Act.”

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McCaul Underscores Importance of Information-Sharing Ahead of FIFA World Cup, America 250

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Michael McCaul (10th District of Texas)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) — chairman emeritus and current vice chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security — questioned National Fusion Center Association President Mike Sena at a committee hearing about security coordination ahead of the FIFA World Cup and America 250. McCaul is also chairman of the committee’s Task Force on Enhancing Security for Special Events in the United States.

Click to watch

Full Exchange:

McCaul: Thank you, Mr. chairman. Let me start out by saying I remember back when I chaired this committee, [we witnessed] the Boston Marathon bombing … And it was avoidable. It was preventable, had federal, state, and local [authorities] been sharing information. The FBI had information about Mr. Tamerlan’s trip to Dagestan where he radicalized and came back. They did not share that adequately with the joint terrorism task force. Specifically, the commissioner of Boston did not have any of that information even though he had two agents or two officers on the task force. We changed that by law, but it’s all about connecting the dots. Mr. Sena, you’re in charge of the fusion center, which sometimes comes under criticism. We formed the fusion centers… You know everybody talks about connecting the dots after 9/11, and that’s exactly what you are doing. What do you see as one of the biggest threats as you look at the environment out there and threat matrix, what keeps you up at night the most? 

Sena: It’s a combination of things. The first thing in the back of my head right now is the financial piece because we do need the resources to get things going … It’s a threat because if we don’t have the right people in place to do the job, it won’t get done. The other thing is the multimodal communication systems that we’ve got right now. The lack of getting that tip and lead — that piece of information. We do a lot of work educating our law-enforcement, public safety, private sector partners on what we need as far as tips and leads — those suspicious activity reports. But we have a lot of different places those go right now — multiple federal systems, multiple private sector parties that take tips and leads. The problem is when you have so many silos, how do you connect them all? And then it comes to game day, and those operations ahead of time. How do you bring people together? For example, during the Super Bowl, we had seven different systems up, and so that worries me tremendously merging those technologies.

McCaul: Well the Super Bowl is a test, right?

Sena: It’s a test for us because FIFA is coming to town, so that was a test. And I can tell you that came up in the after action when people were talking: How do I watch seven systems that I’m having to put data into seven different platforms? My own people especially. But how do we merge those? And the technology is there. It’s policy and practice and training. 

McCaul: Well, if the technology is there, is it policy and practice prohibiting that? 

Sena: It is; everyone has their own silo.

McCaul: Okay, that’s a real problem because it’s going to be March, and they start in June, and you’ve got over 100 games in three countries. You know Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Let me ask you quickly. We were down in Mexico and got a joint training program with our military, both the United States and Mexico, passed by their parliament. We saw the recent events in Mexico. They have drones. The violent uptick after the Jalisco cartel member was taken out. I know this is not in your purview, but you have to learn from those mistakes. How concerned are you about the games in Mexico?

Sena: The big concern I’ve got, especially with drone activity, is that for example I had a person that was planning on flying a drone right into the Super Bowl. And so part of that is that we can have counter measures there, but there are so many other locations that we don’t have people trained in the equipment in place for counter measures that they can go anywhere a crowd is at and immediately hit those targets and cause mass destruction, and we don’t have the capability across-the-board to fight every drone threat.

McCaul: That’s a great segue to my next point and that is under the Safer Skies Act the chairman introduced and my task force recommended, we got that passed in the National Defense Authorization [Act] that gives the ability to share with state and locals the counter drone authorities, which is critically important. I’m surprised we had any opposition to that.

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Congressman Castro Announces SOTU Guest Dr. Anita K. Patel, MD to Highlight Harms of ICE Detaining Children

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Joaquin Castro (20th District of Texas)

February 24, 2026

Dr. Anita K. Patel, MD Will Highlight Concerning Medical Conditions in ICE Detention Centers and the Right to Quality Medical Care

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) announced that his guest for the president’s 2026 State of the Union address will be Dr. Anita K. Patel, MD, critical care specialist and associate professor of pediatrics in Washington, D.C. With over 16 years of experience, Dr. Patel has advocated for delivering adequate treatment, recommendations and guidance for parents facing medical challenges with their children. Most recently, she has used her social media platform and medical expertise to bring attention to the inadequate medical care children and mothers face in ICE detention centers.

“Hundreds of innocent children are being imprisoned because of the Trump Administration’s cruel mass deportation campaign,” said Congressman Castro. “I have seen firsthand the physical toll and psychological trauma that being in places like the Dilley trailer prison has on children and babies as young as two months old. My guest to the State of the Union address, Dr. Anita K Patel, has used her platform to shed light on the brutal stories of medical neglect and abuse at ICE detention facilities and will continue to help make the case that we must free our children from these horrors.”

“ICE’s aggressive tactics on our children and the communities they live in will have lasting consequences,” said Dr. Anita K. Patel, MD. “The body remembers trauma and the lack of access to quality medical care is compounding harm on our children. I am honored to join Congressman Castro for the State of the Union address to share my experience as a pediatrician and shed light on these horrifying stories. We demand immediate action to keep our children safe and protect their future.”

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Nadler Statement on Not Attending President Trump’s State of the Union

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (10th District of New York)

Today, Representative Jerrold Nadler (NY-12) released the following statement on his decision to not attend President Trump’s State of the Union address:

This year, I will not be attending President Trump’s State of the Union address.  
  
The State of the Union should be a moment of truth and accountability. Instead, President Trump will use this platform, as he has so many others, to spread falsehoods, inflame hatred, and deepen division in our country. I will not sit in that chamber and lend credibility to rhetoric designed to divide Americans, undermine democratic institutions, and distract from policies that harm working people. 
 
I refuse to lend legitimacy to an administration that is stripping healthcare from millions of Americans in order to finance tax cuts for billionaires and pour billions of dollars into expanding mass detention and deportation. 
  
Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill delivered the largest transfer of wealth from low-income families to the ultra-rich in our nation’s history, slashing incomes for the bottom sixty percent of earners while adding $4 trillion to the deficit, the largest increase ever passed by Congress. It stripped healthcare from over 17 million people, including 1.5 million New Yorkers, as part of $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts nationwide. At the same time, the richest 0.1% will have an average annual tax cut of over $300,000, while the bottom 20% of families will see their taxes rise. 
  
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has spent $170 billion making Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) into an agency that acts like the American Gestapo. The Trump Administration has launched a brutal and reckless campaign to strike fear in immigrant communities across the country and ICE is on the front lines, using aggressive and violent tactics that too often end in tragedy. Masked federal agents are arresting U.S. citizens, pulling people out of their homes, tearing children away from their parents, and shooting our own citizens dead in the street.  
   
The State of the Union is meant to reflect a commitment to strengthening our country, bringing Americans together, and upholding the Constitution. Until this administration changes course, I will stand in solidarity with those harmed by its policies and continue fighting for a government that serves the people, not the powerful. 
  
New Yorkers and the American people deserve better. And I will never stop fighting to deliver for them. 

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Lofgren, Babin Applaud House Passage of Bipartisan SST Committee Bills

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose)

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, three bipartisan bills from the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee passed the House under suspension. These important pieces of legislation will strengthen America’s leadership in emerging scientific fields, enhance wildfire response through cutting-edge technologies, and advance innovation in forecasting and emergency operations.

“The passage of these three bills is a testament to this Committee’s commitment to bipartisan productivity,” said Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren. “These bills will use innovation to improve disaster response, bolster NASA’s Earth science research goals, and support small businesses as they navigate the AI era. The Science Committee has always been at the forefront of burgeoning technology and will continue to lead by example as a beacon of bipartisanship in the House.”

“Yesterday’s House passage of the ACERO Act, the Small Business Artificial Intelligence Advancement Act, and the ASCEND Act reflects our commitment to ensuring American innovation delivers real-world results,” said Chairman Brian Babin. “From improving aerial wildfire response with advanced aircraft and real-time data, to helping small businesses harness the power of artificial intelligence, to strengthening NASA’s partnership with the commercial space sector through expanded satellite data acquisition, these bills align cutting-edge technology with practical national needs. I appreciate Ranking Member Lofgren’s partnership in advancing these bipartisan measures, which strengthen our economy, enhance public safety, and reinforce America’s leadership in science and space.”

Legislation Passed: 

H.R. 390, ACERO Act

This bill directs NASA to use its ACERO project to improve aerial wildfire response through advanced aircraft, real-time data sharing, and coordinated multi-agency operations.

H.R. 3679, Small Business Artificial Intelligence Advancement Act 

This bill directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop resources for small businesses to help them better understand and utilize artificial intelligence systems.

H.R. 2600, ASCEND Act

This bill directs the NASA Administrator to establish a commercial satellite data acquisition program under NASA’s Science Mission Directorate to satisfy the scientific, operational, and educational requirements of the Administration.

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Rep. Allen’s Home Appliance Protection and Affordability Act Passes House

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Rick Allen (R-GA-12)

Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4626, the Home Appliance Protection and Affordability Act. Congressman Rick W. Allen (GA-12) introduced H.R. 4626 last year, which implements necessary reforms to the Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) to prevent future administrations from prioritizing a radical rush-to-green agenda over the affordability and availability of reliable household appliances that Americans rely on every day.

“The American people do not need the federal government to tell them which household appliances will best meet the needs of their families. In issuing egregious regulations on home appliances and attempting to tilt the scales on what consumers purchase, the Biden-Harris Department of Energy significantly drove up costs and reduced availability for American families. My legislation, the Home Appliance Protection and Affordability Act, is a commonsense measure to prevent future administrations from repeating the same harmful mistakes. House passage of H.R. 4626 is a win for consumer choice. I thank Chairmen Guthrie and Latta, as well as House Republican Leadership, for their continued support of this bill,” said Congressman Allen.

“For too long, burdensome regulations established by the Biden-Harris Administration have driven up costs for home buyers, forcing them to pay more for appliances that fail to offer reasonable energy savings,” said Chairman Guthrie. “The Home Appliance Protection and Affordability Act cuts red tape and ensures that regulations aren’t being weaponized as part of a radical, left-wing agenda. Thank you to Congressman Allen for his work on lowering prices in communities across the country.” 

“President Biden’s Department of Energy consistently abused their authority to push radical environmental standards on American consumers to shut down the use of natural gas and force people to switch to electric appliances, regardless of cost, performance, or availability,” said Majority Leader Steve Scalise. “Thankfully, Rep. Allen’s legislation ensures future administrations do not continue prioritizing ‘Green New Scam’ regulations ahead of the needs of hardworking Americans. I’m glad to see this commonsense legislation pass the House and am grateful for his leadership on this issue.”

To watch Congressman Allen’s remarks on the House floor, CLICK HERE.

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Miller, Colleagues Hold Hearing on Health Care Workforce Shortage

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV)

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV) participated in a Ways and Means Health subcommittee hearing on the current and worsening health care workforce shortage in America and Medicare’s role in financing the training of physicians through graduate medical education (GME) payments.  A video and full transcript of the Congresswoman’s remarks can be found below. 

Congresswoman Miller began by discussing the importance of rural healthcare in her home state of West Virginia. She then questioned a witness, Dr. Emily Hawes, Pharm.D., Professor, Department of Family Medicine at University of North Carolina School, on what Congress can do to improve access to healthcare in rural communities. 
 

“Thank you, Chairman Smith, and thank you all for being here today. It’s so important. 

I grew up in Columbus, Ohio. When I left it, I think there were 600,000 people. The Ohio State, lots and lots of physicians, wonderful education. I moved to West Virginia. I love my home state of West Virginia. I’ve been there over 50 years. I moved to a town of approximately 85,000 that is now approximately 47,000 people because bad policies can have bad results. And I’ve seen a huge turnaround in the last couple of years to our state. 

But it’s rural healthcare, I can’t scream it loudly enough, how important rural healthcare is to my state and many states. When you look at the number of people that have spoken from Missouri and Oklahoma, and, except for my partner over here who is from a big city. We have less than 2% of residency programs in rural communities, and more than 90% of the residents today have never even practiced in a rural setting.

Dr. Hawes, thank you for highlighting the Rural Residency Planning and Development Program, also known as RRPD, in your testimony. This program is essential to hospitals in West Virginia, and I am proud to have introduced the Rural Residency Planning and Development Act. My bill formally authorizes the RRPD program, which helps rural hospitals cover the upfront costs of developing new residency programs because without rural training pipelines, we cannot solve rural physician shortages.

My question for you, Dr. Hawes, is given that rural hospitals face unique barriers, what additional policy changes beyond RRPD are needed to ensure rural communities can not only start residency programs, but sustain them long term and successfully retain physicians after training?” asked Congresswoman Miller. 

“Thank you, Representative Miller, and I want to thank you and your team for the wonderful data requests and emails that you’ve sent over the years. We want to be helpful with information, and so I offer that to all of you, too, as you’re evaluating policies. 

I also want to highlight just a story that that has impacted me from your district. Marshall started a Point Pleasant Psychiatry program and it, just, it speaks to the impact of these programs. So they noticed that the psychiatry patients were coming from Point Pleasant. And so they said, ‘let’s go out to Point Pleasant and start a residency in a county with no psychiatrists.’

And what they’re doing is they’re using telemedicine and a partnership with Marshall that is enabling them. They up-fitted an emergency room that has two telemedicine-like triage sections. And then also they created a new rural health clinic as a result of that psychiatry residency. And their residents are starting a cancer support group from just one of the benefits and spillover effects. So one of the things that just specifically about your district and a policy that would help is just supporting telemedicine and tele-precepting, especially for psychiatry programs,” responded Dr. Hawes.

Congresswoman Miller concluded by discussing her bill, the Fair Access in Residency Act, before questioning Dr. Thomas Mohr, D.O., Dean, Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, on the role Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine play in closing the nation’s physicians shortage. 

“Thank you so much. I’m pleased to see that the Osteopathic Medical Schools are represented here today. As our country grapples with worsening physician shortages, we’ve got to eliminate the unnecessary barriers that prevent highly qualified Osteopathic medical students from accessing residency opportunities.

For a rural state like my own, we cannot afford artificial barriers to physician distribution, particularly when Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine play such a vital role in primary care, which is why I introduced the Fair Access to Residency Act.

Doctor Mohr, from your perspective, what role do Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine play in helping close the nation’s physician shortage, particularly in communities that are rural?” asked Congresswoman Miller.
 
“Thank you for that question, and thank you for your support of the FAIR Act. 

My job as Dean is not just to educate and train medical students so that they can graduate and pass the board examinations, but also to assist in their residency placement. Osteopathic physicians are essential to meeting rural and underserved workforce needs, and by percentage, our students do tend to go more into rural and underserved programs.

However, according to the National Residency Match Program data, 29% of residency program directors currently state that they never or seldom interview D.O. candidates, while nearly three quarters, 73%, of GME programs that do consider DO’s mandate that they take the MD licensure exam, where we take the COMLEX-USA licensure exam.

This causes our students to have to take two examinations, which are costly and expensive and stressful and unnecessary because every state, every medical board in the nation recognizes the COMLEX-USA. And so I think we need to understand that to be fair and to help to support Osteopathic Physicians who are more likely to go into rural, community-based and underserved areas, that we have to have a little bit more transparency when it comes to acceptance. And that’s what the FAIR Act, as you know, does. It suggests that there be reporting of both DO and our MD colleague applicants,” responded Dr. Mohr. 
 

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Pallone Underscores Trump’s Cost-of-Living Crisis with Gateway Worker as Guest at State of the Union

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Frank Pallone (6th District of New Jersey)

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) will attend President Trump’s State of the Union address tonight with Derrick Healy, a New Jersey Gateway Tunnel construction worker and member of the Laborers’ International Union of North America who was forced off the job when the Trump Administration froze congressionally approved funding for the project.

The funding was released only after a federal judge ordered the Trump Administration to comply with the law, allowing construction to resume. Before that ruling, roughly 1,000 workers were sent home without pay, construction was halted, and one of the most critical infrastructure projects in the country was thrown into uncertainty. And while this portion of federal funding was released, the Trump Administration is continuing its appeal of the ruling that could put future Gateway funding and the paychecks of these workers in peril once again.

“Trump illegally froze funding for a project that supports thousands of New Jersey workers and forced families to wonder how they’d pay their bills,” Pallone said. “Derrick shouldn’t have needed a federal judge to get back to work. Gateway was on budget and on schedule until Trump decided to play politics with people’s livelihoods. I will keep fighting for the continued funding of this important project and do all I can to block the Trump administration’s efforts to halt it. If the President wants to talk about affordability tonight, he should start by explaining why he made it harder for working families to earn a paycheck in the first place.”

“Gateway is essential to our economy and to the hundreds of thousands of commuters who rely on this tunnel every day,” said Governor Sherrill. “Trump freezing this funding was illegal and it put New Jersey workers and their families in an impossible position. We went to court because the law matters and because these jobs matter. The court agreed and the funding is finally moving again, but workers should never have been forced into this uncertainty in the first place.”

“People who actually work for a living can’t afford the basics anymore. Trump promised more building, more manufacturing, and more jobs in America. What’s he actually done? Nothing but play political games, cause chaos with our paychecks, and make it harder for blue collar people to do their damn jobs. Thanks to pressure from union workers, Congressman Pallone, Governor Sherrill, and others in the delegation, the Gateway project is back on track. I’m proud to be Congressman Pallone’s guest at the State of the Union to help send a message: stop the games and lower the high cost of living,” said Healy.

The Gateway Tunnel project supports thousands of union jobs and is essential to the daily commute of more than 200,000 riders between New Jersey and New York. When funding was halted, the disruption not only jeopardized workers’ livelihoods but also risked serious delays and potential cost overruns for taxpayers on a project that had been on budget and on schedule.

Pallone said Healy’s presence underscored a broader message ahead of and following the address: affordability starts with a paycheck, and New Jersey workers should not need a court order just to get back to work.

Video of Pallone and Healy is available here.

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LEADER JEFFRIES: “THE STATE OF OUR UNION UNDER DONALD TRUMP’S PRESIDENCY HAS BEEN A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER”

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

Know Your Immigration Rights

If you or a loved one encounter immigration enforcement officials, it is essential that you know your rights and have prepared your household for all possible outcomes.

Ask for a warrant: The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects you from unreasonable search and seizure. You do not have to open your door until you see a valid warrant to enter your home or search your belongings.

Your right to remain silent: The Fifth Amendment protects your right to remain silent and not incriminate yourself. You are not required to share any personal information such as your place of birth, immigration status or criminal history.

Always consult an attorney: You have a right to speak with an attorney. You do not have to sign anything or hand officials any documents without speaking to an attorney. Try to identify and consult one in advance.

The New York City Office of Civil Justice and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) support a variety of free immigration legal services through local nonprofit legal organizations. To access these resources, dial 311 and say “Action NYC,” call the MOIA Immigration Legal Support Hotline at 800-354-0365 Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. or visit MOIA’s website.

Learn more here: KNOW YOUR IMMIGRATION RIGHTS  – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries

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Congressman Neguse Delivers Retroactive Rural Schools Payments Following Enactment of His Bill

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Joe Neguse (D-Co 2)

Lafayette, CO — Today, Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse announced that, thanks to the implementation of his bill, the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act (signed into law in December 2025), the U.S.  Forest Service will issue $182 million in retroactive Secure Rural Schools (SRS) payments for 2024. These funds provide vital support to rural and mountain communities that are home to federal lands, helping sustain public schools, maintain local roads, strengthen wildfire preparedness, and support other essential services in rural communities. 

 “The Secure Rural Schools program is a vital lifeline for the communities I serve across Western Colorado, and I’m  incredibly proud that after years of hard work, these payments will make folks across our state and throughout rural America whole, ensuring that each community receives its full amount. This funding delivers real support for teachers, students, first responders, and so many others — and I look forward to continuing to see it expand possibilities for the people I’m honored to represent, from Grand County to Eagle County and everywhere in between,” said Congressman Neguse.  

The USFS previously issued 2024 payments under the 1908 revenue-sharing framework since SRS had not been reauthorized. The payments announced today will make up the difference to ensure that every community receives its full allocation for 2024 payments. 

More information can be found by visiting the USFS’s Secure Rural Schools Programwebpage. 

Neguse worked alongside the late Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) to officially reauthorize SRS at the end of last year, after it lapsed in September 2023. Prior to that, he secured two-year extensions for the SRS program in 2019 and as part of the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. 

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