Immigration groups urge Democrats to make pathways to citizenship a priority

A coalition of more than 150 immigration rights organizations and allies are calling on Democrats to cut funding for federal immigration enforcement agencies and create a pathway for citizenship when the party takes control of the next Congress.

In a letter sent Monday and first shared with Politico, the groups urged Democrats to use their new congressional majorities to “prioritize a bold agenda” on immigration and to hold the Trump administration accountable for the chaos fueled by its immigration crackdown.

The groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, United We Dream and the National Immigration Law Center, also want Congress to block additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol until changes are made to how the agencies operate.

They are also looking to recover billions of dollars allocated to the Department of Homeland Security through Republican-backed spending legislation and have it redirected towards programs aimed at lowering costs for Americans.

“Instead of addressing these critical issues, the Trump administration has violently scapegoated and targeted immigrant communities, harming every American in the process,” the letter reads.

The groups are asking lawmakers to introduce legislation allowing for smoother pathways for undocumented immigrants to obtain permanent legal status and eventually citizenship, without adding tougher enforcement measures or additional surveillance.

“The harms inflicted on immigrant communities by this administration will echo for generations,” they wrote in the letter.

The demands come less than a week after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, where voters delivered a stunning rebuke of Republicans’ and the Trump administration’s leadership.

Deportations, which have been a key focus for the second Trump administration, may have been politically costly for Republicans. President Trump conceded that his immigration crackdown “might be too tough” in the wake of the sweeping losses, and that it may have hurt the GOP in the midterms.

Trump has signaled that he is open to negotiating with Democrats on immigration, including a possible path to legal status for some longtime undocumented migrants. But his recent appointment of immigration hardliner Stephen Miller — the key architect of Trump’s deportation campaign and controversial enforcement tactics — as White House chief of staff could complicate those efforts.