Immigration
It’s time to abolish ICE.
At 28 years old, I am older than ICE itself. The agency was created in the wake of 9/11 and reflects a period when fear drove us to militarize immigration enforcement. Local law enforcement already has the authority to pursue violent crime, and what ICE does today goes far beyond that mission. It terrorizes families, destabilizes communities, and undermines trust in public institutions.
This is deeply personal for me. I am the child of immigrants, and I saw long before Donald Trump how our broken system tore families apart and kept workers in the shadows. Today, parents in New Jersey send their children to school carrying birth certificates or passport cards out of fear that an ICE agent could stop them based on their accent or appearance. Cosmetic reforms like marking ICE agents’ vans or prohibiting the use of face coverings do not fix an agency that is fundamentally not keeping us safe.
ICE's indiscriminate raids under Trump tear apart families and spread fear across entire communities. People stop showing up to work, parents keep their children home from school, people avoid houses of worship and public events, and local businesses lose both employees and customers almost overnight. Border security should be orderly and humane, but local police should never be forced to act as immigration agents, and communities should not be governed by fear. I will fight for an immigration system that welcomes talent, protects families, supports employers, and allows Central Jersey to grow and thrive.
Donald Trump’s immigration agenda moved us backward. We need comprehensive immigration reform grounded in both humanity and economic reality. I support a path to citizenship for people who have built lives here and committed no serious crimes, and I'll vote to codify DACA into law so Dreamers and their families can plan for the future. It also means ending self-defeating visa restrictions that prevent American employers from hiring the talent they need. In health care, for example, H-1B visas are a lifeline for staffing rural hospitals, clinics, and underserved communities. Whether doctors and nurses, researchers, construction workers, small business owners and home health aides, immigrants are essential to Central Jersey’s growth and stability.
