Congressman Joe Morelle says immigration reform is top of mind should Democrats take control of Congress in the coming mid
Morelle, fresh off a visit with Omar Ramos-Jimenez, held a news conference Wednesday to address federal immigration policies. Ramos-Jimenez, a local businessman best known for founding the South Wedge Mexican restaurant La Casa, has been held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Batavia detention center since December.
Originally from Mexico, Ramos-Jimenez has lived in Rochester for 30 years and was in the process of appealing a decision denying him asylum status when he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Stories like his, Morelle said, are why President Donald Trump is losing support for his immigration policy.
“People hear his story, and they know they're being lied to, and I think that's now even on immigration, which was supposedly one of the strengths of the president,” Morelle said. “The vast number of Americans disagree with his policies on immigration, and I think it's because they're starting to understand this isn't what we were told.”
Last week, a New York Times/Siena Research Institute poll reported President Trump’s approval ratings have dropped to 37%, the lowest of any president in decades and a net drop of 22 points from the start of his second term. Virtually all policy categories saw dramatic drops in support. Approval on immigration policy, for example, had seen a net drop of 15 points to 41% approval.
Approval on his handling of the cost of living saw the most dramatic drop, with 28% approval. That’s a drop of 42 points.
In the upcoming mid-term elections, Democrats would need to gain three House seats and four Senate seats to take control of Congress. All House seats are up for election this year, as are 35 Senate seats. Morelle said that if Democrats gain the majority in Congress, reforming immigration policy would be a necessity.
“The first thing we'll do is make major reforms to ICE,” Morelle said. “All the reforms that we've talked about, making sure when their agents are out in the field, that they use judicial warrants, not administrative warrants, that they have body cams, that they're not masked, that they have badges, that they dress not in combat fatigues for city streets.”
Morelle said he would also seek to "claw back" the historic increase in funding for ICE. Last year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act boosted ICE's budget from around $10 billion to $85 billion, making it the highest funded law enforcement agency in the country.
