{"id":119,"date":"2026-06-01T09:10:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T09:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=119"},"modified":"2026-06-01T09:10:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T09:10:42","slug":"this-house-democrats-fight-against-trumps-deportations-is-outside-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=119","title":{"rendered":"This House Democrat’s Fight Against Trump’s Deportations Is Outside Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The district office of New York Rep. Dan Goldman has undergone a renovation of sorts. Over the past year, amid the typical operations for constituent services, a small immigration triage center has taken shape.<\/p>\n

Read more Judge Reopens Trump IRS Suit to Investigate Potential \u2018Collusion\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a flashy setup \u2014 a folding table where people can meet with an outside immigration attorney and fill out paperwork, and a collection of old toys nearby for kids to play with as adults discuss the issues they\u2019re facing. But for this House Democrat, helping immigrants in his district navigate the Trump administration\u2019s mass deportation campaign is a tangible action he can take while his party lacks much legislative power to push back.<\/p>\n

Now, Goldman and his team are sharing with other lawmakers\u2019 offices what they\u2019ve learned from advocating for constituents as Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s tactics grow more aggressive.<\/p>\n

This month, Goldman and his team, in conjunction with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, hosted an event to educate staffers on Capitol Hill about their triage center and the best practices that had come from working with community groups. More than 100 staffers from several congressional offices attended, Goldman\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we have been doing this work, we have realized that we had to create certain systems and protocols and policies and pushbacks in order to be able to stand up and show up for our constituents,\u201d said Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez, a member of the CHC who spoke at the event and whose district was hit by a surge in federal immigration agents last year as part of Operation Midway Blitz<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Chicago, we had to learn on the ground how to help deploy deportation defense teams, rapid-response teams and mutual aid across the city of Chicago and its suburbs, and we have to take every single tool at our disposal to be able to do that work to protect the constituents,\u201d said Ramirez, a Democrat.<\/p>\n

About a year ago, Goldman walked toward his district office near New York\u2019s City Hall and saw masked ICE officers detaining people who were exiting<\/u><\/span> a nearby courthouse. For weeks after that, Goldman and his staff returned to the courthouse to act as witnesses to arrests or to accompany constituents to hearings.<\/p>\n

The small triage center quickly took shape in the district office, and a year in, Goldman\u2019s team said it has helped secure the release of 36 people who were detained at 26 Federal Plaza. Their work has included coordinating with immigrants and their families ahead of court appearances, connecting with community organizations that provide services the legislative office cannot and working with immigrants to secure congressional privacy release forms that allow Goldman\u2019s team to advocate on behalf of those detained.<\/p>\n

After a year\u2019s worth of successes and failures, Goldman and his staff are working to amplify and spread their tools and techniques.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much of what we did at that time was just trying to figure out what was going on, what the basis [is] for these arrests,\u201d Goldman said of the first months of his office\u2019s immigration advocacy work, \u201cand it evolved over time to really be monitoring these cases so that we could follow them through the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

After struggling to find meaningful ways to push back against the immigration policies of a Republican Party that controls both chambers of Congress and the White House, Goldman\u2019s team says they\u2019ve landed on ways to shift the outcomes of some immigrants\u2019 cases and yield success for constituents caught in ICE\u2019s web.<\/p>\n

Read more HUD Says Homelessness Dropped 3% in Latest Count<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had so many cases where the more pressure we put, we\u2019ve seen cases where folks are released, we\u2019ve seen cases where someone, where the legal counsel is able to get a signature, we\u2019ve seen cases where we\u2019re able to bring an insulin shot to someone who is detained and needs the insulin medication,\u201d said John Blasco, Goldman\u2019s interim chief of staff. \u201cWe\u2019ve been able to get work authorization cards back, so pressure, pressure, pressure, and be creative.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the tools that Goldman\u2019s team found effective was collecting information through an intake form so they can file a habeas petition \u2014 a legal document challenging federal custody. For such petitions to stand a chance as ICE moves to transfer detainees across state lines, the person in custody must still be in the jurisdiction where they were detained.<\/p>\n

Ben Remy, a senior coordinating attorney at New York Legal Assistance Group who helps facilitate some of the casework, said that when they learn a constituent was detained, Goldman\u2019s office, or the organizations they work with, moves quickly to file the petition.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Immigration officials] know we\u2019re doing these habeas petitions,\u201d Remy said. \u201cWe\u2019ve done enough of them at this point that they know what we\u2019re doing, so what we\u2019ve actually seen is they will try to transfer people out sometimes the same day, or usually the next day, so that we lose jurisdiction in the Southern District of New York to bring those cases. So saving that time, so that we can get to the actual filing as quickly as possible, is absolutely paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n

A DHS spokesperson said in a statement to NOTUS that \u201cclaims that transfers of detainees are being \u2018weaponized\u2019\u201d are \u201ccategorically false.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe agency makes a custody determination based on bed space and ensures their presence for immigration proceedings or removal from the United States,\u201d the spokesperson continued.<\/p>\n

Goldman and his team said they use every tool at their disposal, including working with federal immigration officials where possible.They\u2019ve tried to maintain working relationships with Department of Homeland Security officials as a means to reach their goals, including by calling to ask about constituent cases or to facilitate oversight visits to detention and processing facilities.<\/p>\n

The district team has had to manage the influx of immigration cases in addition to their other congressional responsibilities. Longstanding community networks are key to managing it all, according to Betsy Schmid, Goldman\u2019s district deputy director.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we showed up every time we were asked to do an accompaniment, we would do no other work,\u201d Schmid said. \u201cThe district staff is small; I could have someone on our staff in every courtroom, we would just have no one in the office. So we just have to trust our partners that they\u2019re going to be the ones to do it. It\u2019s not that I don\u2019t want to, it\u2019s that I trust this group. They\u2019re going to be there for you, and if anything happens, they\u2019re calling me, and I will support you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Judge Orders Removal of Trump\u2019s Name From the Kennedy Center<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With little legislative power to push back against Trump, Rep. Dan Goldman is building a system on the ground.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress"],"yoast_head":"\nThis House Democrat's Fight Against Trump's Deportations Is Outside Congress - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=119\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This House Democrat's Fight Against Trump's Deportations Is Outside Congress - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With little legislative power to push back against Trump, Rep. 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