Press Releases

Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24), a Vice Chair of both the New Democrat Coalition and the Coalition’s Immigration and Border Security Task Force, led a call by nearly 60 of the Coalition’s members urging Republican congressional leadership to work across the aisle in good faith on bipartisan legislation that would help reform the United States’ broken immigration system.

“House Republicans frequently parrot far-right talking points about the southern border, yet their leadership refuses to work with Democrats on a bipartisan solution that can actually become law,” said NDC Chair Annie Kuster (NH-02) and Vice Chairs Carbajal and Derek Kilmer (WA-06). “New Dems have consistently prioritized working across the aisle to find common ground with Republicans when possible on legislation that will secure our border, stem the flow of illicit fentanyl, increase the number of judges to address backlogs in immigration courts, and address the labor shortage. Speaker Johnson must finally join us in working on this critical issue and delivering for the American people. The time is now.”

In a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, the Coalition members decried recent comments suggesting that congressional Republicans would be inclined to defer to former President Donald Trump’s preferences and avoid engaging on a solution out of political motivation.

“It is unfortunate that you and members of your Conference have described the situation as a winning political issue, and suggested that you would wait to act on the border until a Republican president is elected. This is unacceptable. We respectfully urge you to put the American people and our nation’s security ahead of petty partisan politics. It is long past time to negotiate in good faith on a bipartisan solution to humanely secure our southern border and reform our immigration system,” the members wrote.

As a Vice Chair of the NDC Immigration and Border Security Task Force, Rep. Carbajal has been a key leader in  efforts to address immigration issues in Congress

Carbajal and other Task Force members have pushed for the swift consideration of President Biden’s border security request, and have urged the Administration and House leadership to advance additional funding to streamline immigration processes, secure the border, and tackle the fentanyl crisis. 

Rep. Carbajal immigrated to the United States when he was five years old from Mexico. His father worked as a farmworker in Ventura County, where Carbajal joined him in the summers growing up to help pick the vegetables that feed the nation and the world.

As someone who came to the United States when its immigration system worked, he has worked diligently to find common ground to implement commonsense immigration solutions.

He is one of the leading voices behind the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would provide stability and fairness for farmworkers and address workforce shortages in the agriculture industry.

He also is the author of the bipartisan Protect Patriot Parents Act, which would make parents of U.S. military servicemembers eligible to adjust for Lawful Permanent Resident status, preventing potential deportations or separations of military families.

He is also a cosponsor and champion of the bipartisan American Dream and Promise Act, which would permanently codify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for the nearly 800,000 young people who came to the United States as children.