Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander, alongside Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.), led 55 members of Congress in opening a new investigation into the Trump administration’s detention and deportation of non-citizen service members, veterans, and military families.
The lawmakers wrote to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) demanding an explanation for these practices, which go against decades of precedent and long-standing DHS policy indicating that military service offers protection from immigration enforcement for military service members, veterans, and their immediate family members.
“The brave women and men who put on the uniform to serve in the United States Armed Forces risk everything for our country. Betraying the promises that have been made to them by our government is dishonorable and dangerous,” said Congresswoman Goodlander.
Over the past century, hundreds of thousands of immigrant service members have fought for the nation and contributed to victories in military conflicts. Non-citizen service members fill in recruitment gaps and provide foreign language skills and medical expertise to the military that are difficult for recruiters to find and expensive to teach. In April, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rescinded its former policy of considering military service a “significant mitigating factor” when deciding whether to pursue immigration enforcement and issued a new policy less protective of service members and their families.
The coalition asked the two agencies to provide, by September 16, 2025: information about the number of non-citizens serving in the military; a list of service members, veterans, and family members who have been arrested, detained, or deported since January 2025; the impact of these new immigration policies on recruitment, readiness, and morale; what information about non-citizen service members and military family members the Pentagon provides DHS and ICE; and more.
Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) joined in signing the letter.
Representatives Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.), Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Cleo Fields (D-La.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Henry Johnson (D-Ga.), John Larson (D-Conn.), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Kelly Morrison (D-Minn.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Hilary Scholten (D-Mich.), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Derek Tran (D-Calif.), and Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) joined in signing the letter.
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