WATCH: Sen. Padilla reinforces his VISIBLE Act would make both Americans and law enforcement officials safer

July 14, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Sunday, in case you missed it, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, joined CNN’s “State of the Union” to criticize the Trump Administration’s cruel immigration raids in California and across the nation, and pushed for new legislation to require immigration enforcement officers to display clearly visible identification during public-facing enforcement actions.

Tom Homan “Border Czar”

As Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), enact President Trump’s cruel mass deportation agenda, Padilla’s VISIBLE Act would strengthen oversight, transparency, and accountability for the Administration’s indiscriminate and alarming immigration enforcement tactics that have terrorized communities across California and the nation.

He discussed the recent ruling by a federal judge ordering the Trump Administration to stop carrying out indiscriminate immigration enforcement in Southern California, emphasizing that there is “a mountain of evidence” that agents are illegally arresting people solely based on their race, accents, or occupation. Padilla criticized Trump’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, for dismissing the federal judge’s order and maintaining the Administration’s un-American racial profiling policy.

Padilla also slammed Trump’s plan to enact a 35 percent tariff on Canada and a 30 percent tariff on Mexico, starting on August 1, emphasizing that these tariffs will amount to a tax on the American people by raising prices.

Key Excerpts

On a federal judge’s order to stop the Trump Administration’s indiscriminate, racially biased immigration sweeps:

• “Wouldn’t be the first time the Trump Administration tries to just dismiss a court order, and so it’s our job to ensure that we uphold the law, uphold the Constitution. I mean, Homan has said it very clearly in other interviews: they’re not even asking for significant findings to detain people. They’re going based on appearance. His words, not mine, based on occupation, his words, not mine, based on accents, physical appearance. Dana, what if I was outside of Home Depot, because I like to do some work around the house, not dressed in a suit, would I be a target of ICE enforcement under Tom Homan? Probably.”

• “It’s just wrong. It’s not just due process rights that have become the concern, but racial profiling. When federal agents involved in immigration enforcement are using racial profiling, they’re not enforcing the law. They are breaking it.”

• “He claims to be prioritizing those violent, dangerous criminals. We’ve been hearing this ad nauseam from the Trump Administration going back to the campaign trail. The numbers suggest otherwise: the vast majority of people that have been detained, and even those deported, have no serious criminal conviction history. If it was only going after dangerous criminals, there would be no debate, no discussion. I agree with that. But the fact of the matter is, the vast majority of those being detained are the same people who were deemed essential workers at the end of the first Trump Administration at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s a cruel, cruel irony.”

On the VISIBLE Act and federal immigration agents lacking identification:

• “I do have concern when there are no requirements for ICE agents or other federal agents involved with the immigration enforcement actions to even identify themselves. I mean, if you’re a member of a working-class immigrant community, and you see unmarked cars roll into your community, people getting out of those cars with no identifiers that they are law enforcement, and literally not just detaining, in your mind, maybe kidnapping.”

• “So that’s why Senator Booker and I have this bill to require that identification for ICE agents or anybody involved with immigration enforcement. It’s for the safety of the officers and agents, as well as safety for the community and to protect against people exploiting the circumstances, impersonating ICE agents, and getting involved with burglary, theft, kidnapping, sexual assault, and worse.”

On Ventura County immigration raid leading to the death of a migrant farm worker:

• “Again, if all they’re doing is going after serious violent criminals, that would be one thing, but because of these artificial quotas established by, whether it’s Donald Trump or Stephen Miller or somebody in the Administration, it’s causing ICE to get more aggressive, more cruel, more extreme, and these are the results. It’s people dying because of fear and terror caused by this Administration. It’s not just undocumented immigrants. There’s lawful immigrants that are being rounded up. There’s United States citizens that are being detained. There are military veterans that are being detained.”

On Trump’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada:

• “Both Canada and Mexico aren’t just the largest trading partners for the state of California, they’re among the largest trading partners for the United States of America. And so let’s remember what happens when tariffs take effect. First of all, costs will increase, and the people who pay that price increase are United States consumers. It’s U.S. companies importing products from those countries that will pass along the cost to the American consumer. So in effect, it’s a tax increase on the American people brought to you by Donald Trump.”

Video of Senator Padilla’s full interview is available here.

Earlier this week, Senators Padilla and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) released a video on Instagram calling out Trump’s lies and explaining the facts about how their legislation, the VISIBLE Act, would make Americans and law enforcement officials safer. Padilla also led 13 Democratic Senators in a letter criticizing ICE for engaging in counterproductive, theatrical enforcement activities — including raids on courthouses and restaurants — and requesting information from the agency on its mask and uniform policies.
Source: Senator Alex Padilla