Democrats push Trump for immigration deal after midterm ICE backlash

Sitting and incoming Democrats gathered outside the US Capitol on Wednesday to demand Congress act on immigration before the new session begins in January — and to press Donald Trump to help them do it. The group spanned Senate and House progressives and moderates, a show of unity after Republicans took a midterm drubbing driven partly by voter anger at the president's ICE raids. Many carried signs reading “legal pathways for long-term immigrants.” The one Republican expected, Florida congresswoman Maria Salazar, never showed.

Arizona senator Ruben Gallego said there is still time this session for a deal, and that Democrats would keep trying next session if not. He argued Republicans can no longer cite the border as an excuse, saying crossings have dropped and “we did the job.” “Let's figure out how to keep families together,” he said.

The push lands just over a week after an election in which Trump's deportation campaign hurt Republicans at the polls. The president has since said his enforcement had been “too tough” in some respects and floated a tentative deal to shield longstanding, law-abiding undocumented immigrants. That talk was undercut when he named Stephen Miller — the architect of his hardest-line immigration policies — as chief of staff. He has also signaled he will wield his veto freely against Democratic legislation.

Lawmakers pointed to two bipartisan bills as starting points. The American Dream and Promise Act would create green-card pathways for “Dreamers” and people with temporary protections. Its pair, the Dignity Act, is the only bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill introduced in more than a decade, with 35 Democratic and 20 Republican sponsors. It pairs strict border security with protections for some undocumented people.

Texas congresswoman Veronica Escobar, a co-author of the Dignity Act, said she and colleagues will reshape it over the next few weeks before reintroducing it next session, promising more in 2028. “We need to bring sanity back to the immigration system,” she said. Representative Sylvia Garcia of Texas framed the Dream and Promise Act as a foundation to build on today. There was no detailed discussion Wednesday about abolishing or significantly reforming ICE, despite it being a campaign flashpoint.

Representative Henry Cuellar, another Texas border Democrat, expects to chair the House appropriations homeland security subcommittee next year, putting him in charge of DHS funding. He said he has a list of guardrails aimed at reverting ICE to the role it played before Trump's second term.