In an extraordinary moment from this week’s congressional hearing on the Trump administration’s abrupt termination of medical deferred action for immigrants undergoing lifesaving treatment, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did something no official actually responsible for this inhumane decision has done: apologize.
”I’d like to apologize to you on behalf of the United States of America, for the dehumanizing policies that they are pursuing, that are frankly targeting you and targeting many people in the United States,” she told two immigrants who had been invited to appear before a House subcommittee on Wednesday to discuss the impacts of the decision to end their deportation relief. In heart-wrenching testimony, they said deportation could mean death.
"I came here legally and have been a legal resident for 16 years," said Maria Isabel Bueso, whose participation in a clinical trial resulted in a groundbreaking treatment for her rare genetic disorder. Last month, she received a letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services telling her that her deportation relief would be ending in 33 days. The deadline is now just days away, on September 14. Without treatment, her doctors say her life will be in danger.
"The medical treatment I need is not available in Guatemala,” she said. “If I'm sent back, I will die.
Under public pressure, USCIS said it would now consider medical deferred action requests that were pending as of last month, but at the hearing on Wednesday—and to the frustration of Ocasio-Cortez’s colleague Jamie Raskin and others—USCIS official Daniel Renaud wouldn’t answer why the agency made its initial move in the first place, or what the current policy even is, citing an ongoing lawsuit.
"You can't tell me why there's a new policy, you can't tell me what motivated the new policy, and you can't tell me what the new policy is. Is that a correct assessment of the situation?" Raskin asked. "That is my testimony, sir, yes," Renaud replied.
Ocasio-Cortez said legislators would consider a subpoena should the administration keep holding back requested information. “We’re at a moral crossroads,” she continued. Ocasio-Cortez told the witnesses that “we’re fighting for a better country that we can be proud of when it comes to how we treat all people, and understanding the circumstances that they’re coming from. And I’d also like to recognize the intrinsic value that you have, and offer, to everyone you encounter in our country.”