House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met Wednesday with Latino Democratic lawmakers to sharpen the party’s strategy on immigration as President Trump barrels ahead with a wide crackdown that includes using the military to secure the border and threats to deport millions.
The Brooklyn lawmaker and his leadership team met with the Hispanic Caucus to forge Democratic unity behind a message of support for tightening border security while resisting Trump’s controversial deportation plan and his effort to end birthright citizenship.
“We had a great discussion about priorities for the American people, including making sure we secure the border, fix our broken immigration system, stand up for Dreamers and farm workers,” Jeffries told reporters as he left the meeting on Capitol HIll.
Jeffries and other Democrats are seeking to walk a tightrope on immigration by moving the party to the right on border security, which many party leaders see as a major albatross, while maintaining a unified stance against Trump’s mass deportation crackdown.
Some moderate Democrats, including a few members of the Hispanic Caucus from border states, would like the freedom to vote with Trump’s Republicans on some popular immigration-related measures, like the GOP-sponsored Laken Riley Act authorizing deportation of undocumented immigrants arrested for shoplifting and other petty crimes.
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a south Texas moderate, warned party leaders not to tell him how to vote on controversial measures.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an outspoken advocate for immigrants, told Punchbowl News that she believes taking a strong stance on the issue can help Democrats win back the House.
“We’re within striking distance of winning the majority back,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Many progressives, including some Latinos from deep-blue urban districts like Ocasio-Cortez, want Jeffries to lead the party in a much more aggressive pushback against Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Jeffries, who stands to become House Speaker if Democrats regain control of the House in 2026, appears to see Trump’s economic policies and planned tax cuts for the wealthy to be more effective cudgels to use against the new Trump administration.
He replied to a question about immigration over the weekend on “Meet the Press” by changing the subject to Democrats focus on the economy.
On Wednesday, he stressed that the meeting with the Hispanic lawmakers was not only about immigration but also aimed at working to “drive down the high cost of living for everyday Americans.”
Many Democrats believe Trump’s anti-immigration message was a key driver of his surprisingly decisive win over Kamala Harris in the November election.
But they believe Trump may lose public support if his crackdown goes too far, especially if he creates chaos on farms, factory floors and in cities by rounding up millions of undocumented immigrants.